Indian doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus crashed out of the ATP Masters Cup in Huston, losing to Canada's Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles of Bahamas 4-6, 7-6(8/6) 6-7(4/7) in a Blue Group round-robin match.

The victory earned Nestor and Knowles a semi-final meeting with Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llodra.

Santoro and Llodra scored a 6-3, 7-6(7/5) round-robin victory over Czechs Martin Damm and Cyril Suk.

The other semi-final will be between American twins Mike and Bob Bryan and Argentina's Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez.

Bhupathi and Mirnyi's exit enabled the Bryans, who won their first Grand Slam at this year's French Open, clinch the year-end world No. 1 ranking and become the first brothers to achieve the distinction.

Etlis and Martin Rodriguez, the eighth-ranked Argentine pair, made the last four despite being beaten by fifth-ranked Australians Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley.

Arthurs and Hanley won 4-6, 7-6(7/5), 7-6(11/9), but the South Americans advanced by virtue of their victory over Mirnyi and Bhupathi.