Paes-Bhupathi advance to semis, Bopanna-Qureshi out

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the men's doubles semifinals while compatriot Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi bowed out of the Western & Southern tennis championships in Ohio.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the men's doubles semifinals while compatriot Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi bowed out of the Western & Southern tennis championships in Ohio.

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Bhupathi and Paes, seeded third, received a walkover into the semi-finals after Czech pair of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek withdrew here Saturday. Berdych, who defeated two-time champion Roger Federer 6-2, 7-6(3), cited a right shoulder injury.

The Indians now face defending champions, brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan of the US. The Bryans advanced to the semi-finals with a 7-6(5), 7-6(3) victory over seventh seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

The fifth-seeded pair of Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi were outplayed by fourth seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic 3-6, 2-6 in just 58 minutes.

Llodra and Zimonjic dropped just eight points on serve to improve to a 31-11 match record on the season.