Paes-Bhupathi rally to reach Ordina Open final

In the final, the Indians will face off against the Croat-Austrian pair of Mario Ancic and Jurgen Melzer, who beat the Belgian-French duo of Steve Darcis and Marc Gicquel in the other semi-final of the $ 175,000 event.

The super tie-breaker turned out to be a see-saw battle but the experienced Indian duo held their nerves to earn two match points before eventually wrapping it up to win their toughest match of the tournament so far.

Roger, Novak in same half

Roger Federer could face No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals as he bids for a sixth straight Wimbledon title. Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, was drawn into Federer’s half of the bracket Friday for the grass-court Grand Slam tournament opening Monday.

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal is in the other half of the draw. He could face two-time runner-up Andy Roddick in the semi-finals. Federer will open play on Centre Court on Monday against Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. Nadal will open against German Andreas Beck.

In the women’s draw, top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and two-time champion Serena Williams are in the same top half. No. 2 Jelena Jankovic is in the bottom half along with defending and four-time winner Venus Williams. Venus Williams will open defence of the title against British wild card entry Naomi Cavaday. Ivanovic faces Rossana de los Rio of Paraguay in the first round.

Sania gets easy opener

Sania Mirza was handed an easy first round against unseeded Colombian Catalino Castano, but the going would get tough for the Indian ace thereafter as she could be up against defending champion Venus Williams in as early as the third round.