India’s Leander Paes moved into the mixed doubles final and remained on course for a clash with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in the men’s doubles final as both advanced to the semifinals of the event at the US Open tennis championship here.
Defending champions Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe, seeded second, came through the grind to beat Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 in a mixed doubles semifinal at the Flushing Meadows.
Paes and Black, runners-up in Wimbledon this year, will face American Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott in the final. Paes will take a shot at his fifth mixed doubles title and 10th overall.
Gullickson and Parrott reached the final after upsetting top seeds Bhupathi and American Liezel Huber 6-3, 6-4.
Bhupathi, however, advanced in the men’s doubles event as he and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, seeded third, overcame a tough challenge from Croat Ivan Ljubicic and Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) in nearly two hours.
The duo set up a semifinal clash with fifth seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel, who defeated second-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-0.
In the other doubles semifinal, Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy play top seeded American Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, who defeated Australian Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione 6-4, 7-6 (2). Paes and Dlouhy, registered a fighting 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over the seventh-seeded pair of South African Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman of Belarus.
The Indo-Czech pair who won their first Grand Slam together at the French Open this year will have a tough contest against the Bryans who had beaten them in the final here last year.
In the boys’ singles, India’s top-seed Yuki Bhambri comfortably sailed into the third round with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sandro Ehrat of Switzerland.
The junior Australian Open Champion will next meet American Jack Sock.
Yuki, however, lost in the doubles. The top seeded pair of Yuki and Liang-Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei were upset by American Evan King and Denis Kudla 6-3, 2-6, 6-10 in the first round.
Meanwhile, India’s Sudanwa Sitaram and Irish John Morrissey advanced to the junior boys’ doubles second round beating Americans Gonzales Austin and Bjorn Fratangelo, 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
