Bhupathi-Stepanek advance to round two

Melbourne, Jan 18 (UNI) Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek were stretched to three sets before the Indo-Czech combine overpowered Frenchmen Sebastien Grosjean and Olivier Patience to advance to the second round of the Australian Open here today.

Bhupathi-Stepanek were off to solid start before fumbling in the middle but they regrouped in the decider to win the match 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 in an hour and 55 minutes.

The first set was a cakewalk and Indo-Czech duo gave their rivals no chance demolishing them in 16 minutes flat.

Bhupathi and Stepanek were cruising for a straight-set win with a commanding lead of 4-2 in the second before they lost the seventh game and the plot as the Frenchmen sneaked back into the match taking the set in the tie-breaker.

The seventh game proved to be decisive in the decider as well as the Indo-Czech pair broke Grosjean and Patience and then held their serve to win the match.

UNI