Doubles QF - Fognini. F/Zelenay. I vs Paes. L/Tipsarevic. J

Fabio Fognini Igor Zelenay VS Leander Paes Janko Tipsarevic Previous Results Round 1 - def Brunstrom. J/Dodig. I [6-4, 7-5] Previous Results Round 1 - def Pospisil. V/Raonic. M [6-3, 4-6, 10-7]

Paes-Tipsarevic on course to meet Bhupathi-Bopanna in final

CHENNAI, Jan. 5, 2012 - India's Leander Paes, along with his Serbian partner Janko Tipsarevic, moved one step closer to a possible and much awaited meeting in the final against the top-seeded pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in the ongoing 2012 Aircel Chennai Open.

The third-seeded pair of Paes and Tipsarevic brushed aside the challenge posted by the Italian-Slovak duo of Fabio Fognini and Igor Zelenay 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to move into the semifinals in the 17th edition of India's only and South Asia's leading ATP World Tour event.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna also booked a semifinal spot with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Andres Beck and Stanislas Wawrinka and will meet the Israeli duo of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the last-four stage.

Paes and Tipsarevic will take on the second-seeded American duo of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram in the other semifinals.

Paes and Bhupathi, dubbed the "Indian Express" after their exploits on the professional tour that saw them rise to No. 1 in the doubles ranking in the late 90s, reunited at the start of 2011 after a gap of nine years and won the Aircel Chennai Open for a record fifth time.

The pair, however, decided to part ways again last month and Bhupathi and Bopanna, ranked number 7 and 11 respectively, announced that they would be partnering in the new season with their focus primarily on the Olympic Games in London in July.

"We don't look that far," said Paes, when asked about his possible meeting with Bhupathi-Bopanna in the final. "For us, professional athletes, we only look at the very next point, the very next match."