Bhupathi-Miryni in semis

Second seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi stormed into the semi-finals of the Telecom Italia Masters being played in Rome, Italy.

The duo, who had won 10 matches in the row after coming together at the Estoril Open, defeated eight seeds Joshua Eagle of Australia and Jared Palmer of the United States 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, they defeated Agustin Calleri and Guillermo Coria of Argentina 7-6(2), 7-6(6) in the second round after having a bye in the first.

They face the Aussies Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley in the semis on Saturday.

Arthurs and Hanley defeated the singles entry team of Roger Federer and Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 7-6(7) in the quarters.

In the other semi-final, the fifth seeded Czech pair of Martin Damm and Cyril Suk will face seventh seeds Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro of France.

Leander Paes and David Rikl crashed out in the first round, losing to Roger Federer and Paradon Srichaphan 4-6, 3-6.