Bermuda's two top tennis players will team up today in the doubles tournament at the XL Bermuda Open.

Andy Bray and James Collieson were invited to play in the event after impressing during singles qualifying on Saturday.

Although Bray and Collieson both lost, they did enough to convince tournament director Alex Anderson that they were worthy of a wild card spot in the main doubles draw.

"Alex can choose who he gives his wild card to," said Maribeth Anderson, the tournament manager. "And having seen both James and Andy play in the singles qualifying he felt they would be a great addition to the tournament.

"They're third game on the centre court (today), so hopefully people will want to come down and support Bermuda and see them play."

And Bray and Collieson are feeling confident ahead of their game against American Nikita Kryvonos and his partner Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic.

Bray took two games off American Eric Butorac in his 6-1, 6-1 defeat, but played better than the scoreline suggests, and was never really swamped by his opponent.

"It all came down to a few important points," said Bray. "I had chances to win on some of my games, but he had that extra gear, that extra level where he could just blow me off the court when it really counted.

"He is definitely one of the better players that I have played here. But I think I played well and I never felt like I shouldn't be out there. Obviously I'm disappointed that I lost, but you always feel like that.

"But James and I are looking forward to the doubles. It's a nice surprise, we had no plans to play, but Alex saw the way we played over the weekend and decided to give us a shot. We've played together before, and are confident going into the game."

Of the two, Collieson fared better in the singles, making American James Ludlow work hard for his 6-4, 6-3 win.

Ludlow eventually lost to Scott Lipsky, who qualified for the main draw alongside Noam Okun, Franko Skugor, and Kryvonos.