Bhupathi-Bopanna pair enters Paris semis, clinch WTF berth

In a winner-take-all quarter-final clash yesterday fifth seeds Bhupathi and Bopanna defeated the Polish Power pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-4.

They will now be up against the Australian-Britih combination of Paul Hanley and Jonathan Marray.

Bhupathi and Bopanna will make their team debut at the season finale.

The 38-year-old Bhupathi is a four-time runner-up at the event, losing in the final in 2010 (w/Max Mirnyi) and 1997, '99 and 2000 with Leander Paes.

Bopanna, 32, made his debut at the year-end championships last year, partnering Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

The Indian pairing joined forces this season and have compiled a 29-20 match record. They won their first title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and were runners-up at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Cincinnati and Shanghai.

Seventh seeds Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, who have also qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, reached the semi-finals in Paris with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over second seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor.