Paes-Bhupathi are favourites...

Kunal Pradhan

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are eagerly awaiting Saturday's French Open doubles final which could mark a grand turnaround for them after last year's bitter separation.

The former world number one pair reached the final with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Americans Michael Hill and Jeff Tarango and have already risen to number two in the 2001 ATP doubles rankings.

It is the French title, however, that the two 27-year-olds want most.

"We're really excited. But now it's time to focus on the big match. We don't want to come so close and miss out in the grand final," Bhupathi said from Paris on Friday.

Bhupathi and Paes, known as 'Indian Express' on the circuit, play Czech pair Petr Pala and Pavel Vizner, who beat Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Escude 7-5, 6-4 in the other semi-final.

"We know we are kind of the favourites now," Bhupathi said. "But a final is not about tennis, it's about the mind. We've been there before and we want to make sure we do things right."

Bhupathi and Paes won the title at Roland Garros in 1999, when they became the first pair in over 45 years to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams in the same year and also won the Wimbledon crown.

They finished the season as the world's number one pair but 2000 was tumultuous for them. Battling personal problems they split early in the year before getting back together again just before the Sydney Olympics.

NO CONSISTENCY

Bhupathi and Paes won the Japan Open in Tokyo last year but struggled for consistency before reaching the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters and winning ATP events last month in Atlanta and Houston.

"We pulled off some good pressure matches and all of a sudden started to believe in ourselves again," Bhupathi said.

"I think a key match was against Japan in the Davis Cup in April when we were down two sets to one and came back in adverse conditions."

They won the match and India went on to take the zonal tie 3-2.

"A lot of people told us at the start of the year we wouldn't make it big together again. But we knew what we were capable of," Bhupathi said.

"We have made the sacrifices, put in the hard work and now we're going to reap the rewards."

Bhupathi has the chance of a double at Roland Garros. He and Russia's Elena Likhovtseva are still alive in the mixed doubles, playing Argentina's Paola Suarez and Brazil's Jamie Oncins in the semifinals later on Friday.

Bhupathi became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam title in 1997, partnering diminutive Japanese Rika Hiraki in the French Open mixed doubles.

"The focus will be on men's doubles but I'm hoping to do well in the mixed too," he said. "Nothing takes a back seat in the Slams."