Second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi survived a scare before diffusing the challenge of Mahesh Bhupathi and Denis Istomin in the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 Dubai Duty Free Championships on Thursday.
The Indo-Pak Express came back from a set down to beat their unseeded but very experienced rivals 5-7, 7-6(3), 10-7 via Super Tie breaker to move to the semi-finals of the $2,359,935 hard court event.
After two tight sets, the Match tie breaker was no different as the two pair were neck and neck in the first 10 points. The second seeds then took three points in a row which put Bhupathi and Istomin under pressure.
They were down by three match point but managed to save only one as Bopanna and Qureshi sealed it in style in one hour and 30 minutes.
Bhupathi was playing only his second tournament of the season, which will also be his last.
Bopanna and Qureshi will next play Poland's Tomasz Bednarek and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.
Indian challenge had ended in singles with the second round defeat of Somdev Devvarman.
Image: Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi
Photograph: Mark Nolan/Getty Images
