The third-seeded pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati, known as the Indian Express of India, today defeated the second-seeded pair of Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor of Canada 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3 in one of the semifinals of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park to enter the men’s doubles finals.
They will now play against the top-seeded American twins and the two-time defending champions Mike and Bob Bryan in the summit clash of the tournament. The Bryan brothers earlier defeated the unseeded duo of Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-3, 6-2 in a game that lasted for just 54 minutes in the other semi-final of the Grand Slam.
Paes and Bhupathi joined hands together after a gap of nine years with a view to winning the elusive Australian Open trophy. Their participation followed their success in the Chennai Open on the home soil.
Paes has won 12 Grand Slam titles and Bhupathi 11 in their respective careers but they have never together won Australian Open men’s doubles trophy.