Bhupathi-Paes Upset Bryans To Reach Cincinnati Final

© Getty ImagesZimonjic and Llodra won their 11th straight match Saturday.

Third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes overcame a set and a break deficit to upset defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 1-6, 7-6(2), 10-7 in the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday.

The top-seeded Bryans ran away with the first set in 21 minutes, breaking Bhupathi and Paes twice, and had an early break advantage in the second set before the Indian Express staged their comeback, breaking the Americans in the sixth game. Bhupathi and Paes went up 2-0 in the tie-break and closed it out comfortably to force a deciding set.

In the match tie-break, the No. 3 seeds won six of their eight service points despite only hitting 38 per cent of their first serves in and clinched the victory on their second match point to advance in one hour and 22 minutes.

Bhupathi and Paes claimed their first win in three meetings against the Bryans this season, after falling to the World No. 1 pairing in the Australian Open and AEGON Championships finals. They are looking to win their third title of the season (Sony Ericsson Open, Chennai) and first trophy in Cincinnati since triumphing in 2001.

The Bryans were aiming to reach their sixth straight final at the event, having won the title in 2010, 2008 and 2003.

In Sunday’s championship match, Bhupathi and Paes will square off against the red hot tandem of Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic. The No. 4 seeds kept their winning streak alive on Saturday as they battled past Juan Sebastian Cabal and Florian Mayer 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 to reach their third straight final.

The French-Serbian duo have won their past 11 matches and came into Cincinnati on the back of two successive titles in Washington (d. Lindstedt-Tecau) and Montreal (d. Bryans). They withstood strong serving, including 10 aces, from Cabal and Mayer on Saturday to clinch victory in 66 minutes.

The 35-year-old Zimonjic is bidding to win the Cincinnati title for the second time after victory in 2009 with Daniel Nestor (d. Bryans). Llodra, 31, is through to the final of this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.