Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] and Mark Knowles thrashed Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach 6-3, 6-1 to enter the final of the men's doubles at the Australian Open [Images] in Melbourne on Thursday.
The third seeded Indo-Bahamian pair proved too good for their unseeded Polish-Austrian opponents, needing just 58 minutes to win the semi-final encounter.
The winners had lost in the semi-finals last year.
This is also the second time that Bhupathi has reached the final of the Australian Open. The last time he made the final of the men's doubles at Open was in 1999 with estranged partner Leander Paes [Images].
Bhupathi now has a chance to grab his fifth men's doubles Grand Slam title, first Australian Open and 11th overall.
It's been a long time since he won a men's doubles title at a Grand Slam event. It was way back in 2002 that he annexed the title at the US Open [Images] with Max Mirnyi [Images].
They next take on the winners of the match between the fourth seed pair of Leander Paes/Lukas Dlouhy and second seeded Americans Bob and Mike Brayan.
Bhupathi-Knowles broke their opponents once in the first set to take a 1-0 lead and then outplayed them in the second.
They broke them thrice -- in the first, fifth and seventh games -- in the second set to race away with the match.
Knowles hit a stunning forehand winner to earn a match-point which got converted when Marach's attempted winner flew over the baseline.
Among the juniors, top seed Yuki Bhambri quelled a late challenge from Germany's [Images] Becker 6-1, 7-5 to reach the boys' singles semi-finals.
The teen sensation had reached the semi-finals last year as well.
© Copyright 2009 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|