Leander Paes stayed on course for a possible clash with former partner and fellow-Indian Mahesh Bhupathi when he and Martin Damm became the first doubles team to reach the semi-finals in the ABN-AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam on Wednesday.

Paes-Damm, seeded fourth, were stretched by wild card entrants Thiemo de Bakker and Ivan Ljubicic before prevailing 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-6 in the quarter-finals.

The US Open champions will face either top-seeds Bob and Mike Bryan or the Indo-Czech pair of Bhupathi and Nenad Zimonjic in the semi-finals.

Bhupathi and Zimonjic knocked out Belgian duo Olivier Rochus and Kristof Vliegen 7-5, 6-2 in 68 minutes earlier in the day.

Second seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor also booked a place in the quarter-finals after a 4-6, 7-6(1), 10-6 win over Jeff Coetzee and Rogier Wassen.