Paes-Stepanek in semifinals of US Open

New York: Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek stormed into the semifinals of the US Open men`s doubles event after getting the better of Julian Knowle of Austria and Slovakia`s Filip Polasek in straight sets here.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Czech combo took just 74 minutes to outplay their opponents 6-2, 6-4. Paes and Stepanek, who had won the Australian Open title earlier this year, dominated from the word go in the quarterfinal match here last night. Even as the Austrian-Slovak duo failed to earn a single breakpoint, Paes and Stepanek converted two of the five breakpoints to walk away with the match comfortably. The Indo-Czech pair will next take on the sixth seeded Spanish combo of Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, who had defeated Bruno Soares of Brazil and Austria`s Alexander Peya 6-3, 6-4. PTI