Leander-Bhupathi duo in final

NEW DELHI, AUG. 12. The sixth-seeded Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi defeated the top-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2) to move into the final of the Masters series event in Cincinnati.

It was fourth final of the year for the Indian pair, which had won the titles on clay in Atlanta, Houston and the Rolland Garros.

It was also the fourth career-final in a Masters series event for the Indian duo, which had won the titles in Montreal, Rome and Paris in 1997 and 1998.

It was a revenge victory for Leander and Mahesh as they had lost to Bjorman and Woodbridge in the semifinals of the Masters series event in Monte Carlo in April this year.

Incidentally, Leander and Mahesh had won only two matches, both in 1997, in the tournament in Cincinnati, before the successful run this year when they won their first three matches in three sets each.

The other finalist had not been decided yet. Martin Damm and David Prinosil will play against Nicolas Lapentti and Jeff Tarango to decide as to who would take on the Indian combination.

Rafter enters final

Patrick Rafter reached the singles final of the Masters Series on Saturday, beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6- 3 in an all-Australian semifinal.

Rain started just as top-ranked Gustavo Kuerten and seventh- seeded Tim Henman were ready to begin the night semifinal.

Following a 2-hour, 21-minute delay, Kuerten broke Henman's serve and went on to win the first set 6-2. The match was suspended again with Henman leading 5-1 in the second set.

The results:

Singles (semifinal): Patrick Rafter bt Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles (semifinal): Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bt Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2).

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