Paes-Dlouhy advance to Japan Open semis

Tokyo, Oct 3 (UNI) India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy continued their impressive form defeating Philipp Petzschner of Germany and Austrian Alexander Peya in straight sets to advance into the semi-finals of the Japan Open here today.

The top seeded Indo-Czech pair overpowered Petzschner and Peya 6-2, 7-6(4) in just over an hour to win their sixth consecutive match which also include the title win at Thailand Open.

The duo of Paes and Dlouhy will now take on Robert Kendrick of America and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the semi-finals of the 869,000 dollar event.

In the first set, the Indo-Czech pair broke their rivals twice and then saved two break points to take the lead in the match.

However, the Austrian and German pair made a desperate fight back in the second set but Paes and Dlouhy held their nerves in the tie breaker to win the set and book a place in the last-four stage of the tournament.

UNI XC RAR AS1842