Bhupathi advances, Paes exits

Third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi of Belarus moved into the second round of the $2.95 million Rome Masters tennis series, beating the South African pair of Chris Haggard and Marius Barnard 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 in their first round match on Wednesday.

The duo next face the Argentine pair of Lucas Arnold and Gaston Etlis.

But things did not go as well for Bhupathi's former partner, Leander Paes. He and John-Laffnie Dejager of South Africa went down 4-6, 2-6 to fifth seeds Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe in their first round match.

Paes and Dejager have not been able to move past the first round in four of the last five tournaments they played together. The duo had a first round exit at the Indian Wells Masters, Monte Carlo Masters, Houston ATP and Rome Masters and lost in the second round at the Miami Masters.

Bhupathi, however, had comparitively better results with different partners since the duo parted ways. He had one semi-final and quarter-final appearance and two first round exits during the same period.

Last week, Paes and Bhupathi won the Mallorca ATP event in Spain.