Mahesh Bhupathi and new partner Martin Damm of the Czech Republic faced a tough challenge from wild card opponents Florian Mayer and Lars Burgsmuller before entering the doubles second round at the Mercedes Cup tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.

Bhupathi and Damm, the top seeds, beat the local pair 1-6, 6-1 7-6(8).

They take on Andreas Beck and Sebastian Rieschick, another local pair, who defeated Tomas Berdych and Jaroslav Levinsky of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4).