Paes in Auckland final, Bhupathi exits

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

The second seeded Paes and Lipsky beat Australians Paul Hanley 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 and Robert Lindstedt.

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 in the semifinals of $ 484,750 hard-court tournament.