Bhupathi-Bopanna qualify for semis of World Tour Finale

London, Nov 10: India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna knocked out defending champions Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor to qualify for the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finale, in London on Friday.

The fifth seeded Indian pair fought tooth and nail for a 7-6 (5) 6-7(5) 10-5 win against the second seeded Belarussian-Canadian pair in their final Group B match that lasted almost two hours.

Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek have already secured a place in the last-four stage and they play their last Group A match against top seeded American pair of Bob and Mike Bryan tomorrow.

The Indians saved five breakpoints to win the first set in a tie-break but Mirnyi and Nestor pushed the match to a Match tie-breaker by winning the second set, which was fought fiercely for 56 minutes.

Bhupathi and Bopanna zoomed to a 9-4 lead and converted their second match point to secure a semifinal berth.

With today's win, Bhupathi and Bopanna now lead the head to-head record against Nestor and Mirnyi 3-2.