Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Mahesh Bhupathi earned a shot at his first Australian Open title by reaching the mens doubles final with Mark Knowles though Leander Paess wait continues after he lost his semi-final alongside Lukas Dlouhy.
Bhupathi and Bahamian Knowles,seeded third,thrashed Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach 6-3,6-1 to make their first Grand Slam final. In the other semi-final,the fourth seeded Paes-Dlouhy pair lost 6-3,6-3 to American second seeds Mike and Bob Bryan.
Bhupathi now has a chance to end his drought of a mens doubles title at a Grand Slam event. The last time he won a trophy was in 2002 at the US Open. The title will also complete his career Grand Slam. Bhupathi and Paes won the French Open and Wimbledon titles together but have won their respective US Open titles with different partners.
The third seed Indo-Bahamian pair proved too good for their unseeded Polish-Austrian opponents as it took them just 58 minutes to win the match.
Among the juniors,Yuki Bhambri continued his sizzling run as he made the semi-finals of both the singles and doubles events. The world No 2 beat Germanys Richard Becker 6-1,7-5,while in the doubles,he and Chinese Taipeis Liang-Chi Huang beat French Adrien Puget and Julien Obry 7-6 4,6-4.
