Madrid: Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Damm were ousted by the unheralded polish pair of Mariusz Fyrsttenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the first round of the $2.6 million Madrid Masters Tournament.

After a gruelling three-set encounter, the polish pair carved out a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 12-10 victory.

Paes and Damm, who had won the doubles crown at the US Open this year, were taken in by surprise by the spirited performance of their rivals in the first set who managed to stretch it to the tiebreaker.

But the polish duo regrouped and played some aggressive tennis to win the second set and draw parity.

The decider was fiercely fought before Fyrsttenberg and Matkowski sealed the match in their favour with a 12-10 score. Mahesh Bhupathi, partnering American James Blake, is slated to take on the Israeli pair of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the first round.

In the singles, sixth seed Andy Roddick took full advantage of his powerful serve to see off Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 7-6 and move into the third round.

The big American, who won the Masters Series event in Cincinnati in August and lost to Roger Federer in the final of the US Open, snapped up his only break point on his way to taking the first set. It was level pegging in the second but Roddick used his serve to good effect to win the tie-break, wrapping up victory with an ace. He will face either Argentine Agustin Calleri or Czech Tomas Berdych in the third round.

Spain’s Tommy Robredo, who captured the biggest title of his career when he won the Hamburg Masters in May this year, made the third round after a gritty 7-6, 7-6 win over Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela.

The world No. 8 fought his way back after early breaks against serve to force tie breaks in both sets and maintained his concentration on the key points as Chela lost his.

The 24-year-old became the first Spaniard to win in Madrid after first-round defeats for five of his compatriots including Carlos Moya, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez. He will now meet the winner of the match between Robby Ginepri and Mario Ancic.

Torrential overnight rain delayed the start of the morning matches after the roof in the Madrid Arena sprang a leak and organisers had to wait for workmen to lay out tarpaulin sheets to prevent more water getting on to the courts.

Frenchman Gael Monfils had to retire after sustaining an ankle injury while a set up in his match against Slovak Dominik Hrbaty. (Agencies)