Bhupathi-Knowles advance in Eastbourne

Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles survived some stiff challenges from Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins before taming them to enter second round of AEGON International ATP tournament in Eastbourne, England.

The Indo-Bahamian combination lost the first set 4-6 to the English-German pair, but soon found their touch to bag the next two sets 7-6 (4), 10-3 to wrap up the affair.

Bhupathi and his partner gave a good fight but failed to stop their opponents from taking the lead after the first set, although they held their nerves creditably to clinch the next two sets in the Wimbledon lead-up event.