Rome: The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna upset top seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canada's Daniel Nestor in a hard-fought battle to enter the men's doubles semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday.
The seventh-seeded Indians took an hour and nine minutes to get the better of the top seeds, 6-4, 7-5. Bhupathi and Bopanna won 79 percent of their service points, and converted a break of serve in each set to wrap up victory.
Bhupathi and Bopanna, coming off a semi-final showing at the Mutua Madrid Open last week, are aiming to win their second title of the season after triumphing at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
They will next take on third seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, who entered the semi-finals after beating Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 6-2, capitalising on four of seven break point opportunities to advance in 72 minutes.
Lukasz Kubot and Janko Tipsarevic also moved through to the final four, handing Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan their second straight quarter-final defeat at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Kubot and Tipsarevic, teaming up for the second time this season, won 79 percent of their first serve points to beat the two-time champions in 72 minutes. The Polish-Serbian pair will look to reach their first final together when they take on fourth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau, who avenged their Madrid final defeat to Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski with a 6-2, 1-6, 12-10 win.
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