Lee and Hesh storm into semifinals

CHENNAI: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi barely got into the top gear but were still too good for Ken Skupski and Phillip Marx in the Chennai Open doubles quarterfinals at the SDAT Stadium, Nungambakkam.
The Indians, preparing for the Australian Open, their first Grand Slam together in nine years, beat the English–German duo 6-3, 7-6 (3) in I hour and 24 minutes to book their place in the semifinals.Though the Indians were far from their best, flashes of brilliance were on display, especially in their net play.
Earlier, Tomas Berdych was not the relentless player the Open had seen during his first two matches, but he was still more than a handful for Blaz Kavcic in the first quarterfinal. Berdych, the top seed, won 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 23 minutes.
In another quarterfinal, Xavier Malisse, the 2007 champion, beat Germany’s Bjorn Phau 6-0, 6-2 . Earlier on Thursday in a late match David Goffin made third seed Stanislas Wawrinka sweat and stretch.