US Open: Paes, Bhupathi reach semis of mixed & men’s doubles

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi cruised into the semi-finals of the mixed and men’s double event of the US Open with their respective partners.

India’s crashed hopes with the ouster of Sania Mirza in the US Open has been rejuvenated by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi heading towards a possible final showdown in both mixed as well as men’s doubles event of the final grand slam of the year, after winning their respective matches.

Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber, top seed, cruised to the semi-finals of the mixed doubles following their emphatic 6-4 6-3 win over eighth seeds Bethanie Mattek of the US and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.

However, second seeds Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe had to face a stiff resistance from seventh seeded Australian-Swede combination of Rennae Stubbs and Robert Lindstedt before prevailing over them 7-5 3-6 10-6 in their mixed doubles quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows on Monday.

Incidentally, both the Indian players enjoyed success in the men’s doubles events as well although they had to fight hard to earn their last eight berths along with their respective partners.

While the third seeded duo of Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas quelled the challenge of unseeded pair of Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei and Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4 6-4 in the third round, Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded fourth, beat Julian Knowles of Australia and Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5 6-4.

Mahesh Bhupathi has won Australian Grand Slam earlier this year in the mixed doubles category (with Indian partner Sania Mirza).

If he happens to win the US Open in any of the categories, this will be a double treat for India and Bhupathi’s fans as well.