The atmosphere was worthy of a final. The match too was as good as one, as the sheer class of Mario Ancic and Mahesh Bhupathi closed the deal in a Super tie-break third set to progress to the final of the Kingfisher Airlines ATP Mumbai Open doubles on Saturday.
Leander Paes and Aisam Qureshi recovered from a set down but finally lost 1-6, 7-5, 3-10 to the third seeded pair of Bhupathi-Ancic in the quarter-finals.
The victory catapulted Bhupathi and Ancic to the final as their semi-final opponents, Denis Gremelmayr and Simon Gruel of Germany, withdrew from the event because of a hip injury sustained by the former.
The third seeds will meet Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse, who beat Great Britain's James Auckland and Jamie Delgado 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the other semi-final.
Earlier, Russia's Dmitry Tursunov beat top seed Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 to enter the final of the men's singles. The fourth seed will meet third seed Tomas Berdych for the title. The Czech defeated unseeded Austrian Stefan Koubek 7-6, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
"It was a fantastic match. In the end Mahesh and Mario were too good for us," said Paes later. "I would also like to congratulate Aisam on the performance. It was our first tournament together; he took a lot of my shots today and made me look good."
The match got off to a tame start as Paes was sluggish at the net and Qureshi's serve didn't have the same zing with two quality players at the receiving end. Two great returns from Bhupathi saw the Indo-Croat pair earn a break in the very first game.
With both Qureshi and Paes rushing to the net, their opponents had an easy chance to pass them. Bhupathi-Ancic's big serves also proved difficult to return, with their opponents finding the net more often.
A double-fault from Paes in the seventh game won the set for the third seeds, who were looking too good for the Indo-Pak pair.
But cheered on by a vociferous crowd, and with the Pakistani finding rhythm on his backhand, Paes and Qureshi held their ground firmly. None of the players had easy service games, and the unforced errors scratched out, it elevated into a great doubles contest. There were the delectable reflex volleys at the net and the acute angles for winners. Paes's drop volleys had more purpose and the Indo-Pak's aggressive style pushed their rivals on the back foot.
They broke into the lead with Paes's service winner in the seventh game. The duo was done in by a bad call for fault with Qureshi serving for the set at 5-4, deuce. The deciding point was against them but Qureshi-Paes fought to get a break back. Paes was again drawn to deuce in the 12th game but Ancic put the ball long to give them the second set 7-5.
The Super tie-break, which was the third set, turned out be anti-climax as Bhupathi-Ancic raced to an 8-1 lead and went on to take the match at 10-3. As per the new rules, the first team to reach 10 in the Super tie-break takes the set.
"This week even though I was playing I was more happy to see the stands full. Having put in so much effort for the last 7-8 months, it really paid off," said Bhupathi.
Men's singles semi-finals results: 4-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat 1-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1; 3-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Stefan Koubek (Austria) 7-6 (2), 6-2.
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