Indian duo returns from the edge to enter maiden semis

WIMBLEDON, JULY 2: If anybody needed any conviction why Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are a world apart from other Indian sportsmen, t...

WIMBLEDON, JULY 2: If anybody needed any conviction why Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are a world apart from other Indian sportsmen, they just had to be at court number three where the top-seeded doubles pair was fighting what was fast turning out to be a losing battle. The first two sets were gone the first was gone yesterday before rain forced abandonment– and today when the second set slipped away, ninth seeds Canadian Sebastien Lareau and American Alex O’Brien were at the threshold of a place in the semi-finals.

Then the match began.

Lareau dropped his serve in the second game of the third set, but Paes dropped his serve in the seventh. And, when Mahesh Bhupathi put away a volley on the third set point in the tie-breaker, the dramatic transformation of the duo was beginning to take shape. When it crystallised into a nail-biting 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 win in three hours and seven minutes, Paes and Bhupathi had put together yet another story of triumph of sheer grit and ironwill.

During the fifth and final set, Paes kept pointing to his heart because in such situations you need more heart than racquet to get through. But more than Paes’ fighting qualities he had a rather indifferent match today– it was Bhupathi’s game which was the cornerstone of the Indians’ entry into the semi-finals. Serving with power and returning better after the disastrous first two sets, the world number two more than made up for his partner’s form.

Bhupathi’s moment of glory came in the seventh game of the final set off O’Brien’s serve. After Lareau-O’Brien had saved two break points, they went down a third. Bhupathi jumped on the second serve and ripped in a double-handed backhand return which just skimmed the tape and flashed past the onrushing O’Brien to seal the decisive break. That was Bhupathi at his very best, the raw power and tremendous timing combining to make it a thing of extraordinary delight.

The top seeds now meet fifth seeds Oliver Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro (France) for aplace in the final. Delaitre-Santoro beat Wayne Black (Zim) and Sandon Stolle (Aus), the fifth seeds, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.

Woodies crash out:

Second seeds Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde were knocked out of the men’s doubles by eighth seeds Paul Haarhuis and Jared Palmer. The Woodies lost 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 4-6. Haarhius and Palmer will meet Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles, who received a walk over from Jonas Bjorkman and Pat Rafter. Rafter opted out of doubles to concentrate on his singles semi-final.