London: Fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes qualified for the semi-finals at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after they beat top seeds and three-time former champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-2 in just 58 minutes on Friday evening.
Bhupathi and Paes dropped just 12 points on serve and converted three of five break point opportunities against the American twins to finish top of Group A with a 2-1 record.
Had the Bryans - who had already qualified - won in straight sets, then seventh seeds Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner would have qualified for the semi-finals. Earlier in the day, Melzer and Petzschner beat sixth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-4.
In a rivalry dating back to 2001, Bhupathi and Paes drew first blood when they broke Mike Bryan's serve to 30 in the third game - when Mike hit a double fault. The Indians remained rock solid on serve, never facing a break point in the two teams' sixth meeting.
Bhupathi closed out the 31-minute set with a hold to love, finishing with a second ace. 'The Indian Express' dropped seven points on serve, converting one of four break point opportunities.
Bob Bryan came under pressure in the first game of the second set, losing his serve to 15, as high-energy and aggressive net play from Bhupathi and Paes rushed the Americans into a number of errors. At 1-3, Bob was broken, again, to love. Paes coolly clinched victory with an ace at 40/30. Bhupathi and Paes had won 26 of their 31 first service points and won 54 total points to 39.
Bhupathi and Paes, who will partner other players in 2012, have a 32-13 match record on the season. They have won three titles this year at the Aircel Chennai Open (d. Haase-Martin), the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (d. Mirnyi-Nestor) and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (d. Llodra-Zimonjic). They also finished runners up to the Bryans at the Australian Open in January.
Bhupathi and Paes will challenge the second-placed team in Group B, Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the second semi-final.
Courtesy: http://www.atpworldtour.com
