Paes-Begemann pair enters semi-finals at Winston-Salem

Indian tennis icon Leander Paes and his German partner Andre Begemann knocked out top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Nenad Zimonjic in straight sets to storm into the semi-finals of the ATP Winston-Salem Open, here on Friday.

The unseeded Indo-German pair upset the Poland-Serbian combo 6-4 6-4 in their quarterfinal that lasted one hour and 16 minutes. With this win, Paes now has a chance to play his first final of the season on ATP Tour. The 43-year-old legend – who has played a number of Challenger level tournaments this season – has seen his ranking plummet to 72.

He won two titles – Biella (Italy) and Busan (Korea) – on the Challenger circuit. Before this, reaching the semifinals of the Delray Beach Open with Jeremy Chardy was Paes' best show this season. They had lost to Mike and Bob Bryan.