Bhupathi-Stepanek through to Round 2

Paris:

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Czech partner Radek Stepnak cruised into the second round of the men's
doubles with a straight-set win over the Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski at the French Open.

Bhupathi and Stepanek defeated the 12th seeds 6-4, 6-0 in their first round encounter at the Roland Garros on Thursday.

Bhupathi and Stepanek were broken twice in the first set but the Indo-Czech pair managed to win the opener, helped to some extent by Fyrstenberg and Matkowski's mistakes.

The second set in contrast was a cake walk for Bhupathi and Stepanek, who held on to their serves and broke their Polish rivals thrice to wrap up the match after a little over an hour long battle.

In the second round, Bhuapthi-Stepanek will take on Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain and Filippo Volandri of Italy.