Mirnyi and Ram through to semis

Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram assured themselves of a place in the doubles semifinals against Mark Knowles and Mahesh Bhupathi today with a thumping 7-6, 6-4 win over fourth seeds Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy yesterday.

With nothing much to play for, except the money, Paes and Dlouhy looked more relaxed and easy on court. And this sort of helped them as they tended to dominate their opponents even after being a break down in the first set.

But Mirnyi and Ram saw the Indo-Czech pair fight back with a break of their own to force a tie-breaker that the Belarussian and Israeli won easily 7-1. The second set was wrapped in good time with an early break as Mirnyi and Ram whizzed through 6-4.

“It was tough, very tough and very emotional match for us,” admitted Ram.

“It wasn’t about tennis today, but it was about controlling our emotions and I think we did well,” he added after going through an hour and a quarter.

Paes and Dlouhy, who have vouched to continue their partnership for the next season as well, were pleased with their showing despite ending up as the losers. “I think today was one of our better matches compared to the other two we played, and the scoreline showed it,” Paes stated.

The second pair from Group B was to be decided later in the night after the meeting between the Bryan twins and Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach. Only a win in straight sets will see Mike and Bob Bryan through.

And should the Americans go right through and win the finals here, then they will be crowned the ATP World Tour Champions.

Max Mirnyi/Andy Ram bt Leander Paes/Lukas Dlouhy 7-6, 6-4.