Bhupathi-Stepanek in BMW Open semis

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek sailed into the semi-finals of Euro 353,450 BMW Open, beating the German pair of Andreas Beck and Dominik Meffert 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-finals in Munich, Germany.

The unseeded Indo-Czech pair will take on the German-Russian duo of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Mikhail Youzhny in the last four stage.

Kohlschreiber and Youzhny beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Jarkko Nieminin of Finland 1-6, 6-4, 10-5.

Bhupathi and Stepanek made a blazing start and dropped just one game before clinching the opener but the local hopes made a spirited comeback in the next set and stretched the Indo-Czech pair to some extent.

However, Bhupathi and Stepanek put their vast experience to good use and quelled the challenge to move into the next round.