Leander Paes [ Images ] and his American partner Scott Lipsky advanced to the finals of ATP Heiniken Open in Auckland, New Zealand [ Images ] but it was curtains for Mahesh Bhupathi [ Images ] and Mark Knowles [ Images ] at the Sydney [ Images ] International after they lost in the doubles semi-finals on Friday.

The second seeded Paes and Lipsky beat Australians Paul Hanley [ Images ] and Jordan Kerr 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-7 to set up a title clash with top seeded Czech-Swede duo of Martin Damm [ Images ] and Robert Lindstedt [ Images ].

Damm and Lindstedt sailed past the fourth seeded Czech-Slovak pair of Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak 6-3, 6-2 in their semifinal match of the USD 480,750 hard-court event in Auckland.

However, there was disappointment for Bhupathi and Knowles as the third-seeded Indo-Bahamian duo went down fighting 1-6, 7-6 (4), 5-10 to second seeded Americans Bob and Mike Bryan [ Images ] in the semifinals of $ 484,750 hard-court tournament.