Bopanna-Matkowski pair seal semifinal spot in Dubai Tennis Championships

India's doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna, playing with his fourth different partner of the season, forged a strong partnership with Marcin Matkowski to reach the doubles semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships being played in Dubai.

The unseeded Indo-Polish pair knocked out Romania's Florin Mergea and Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the USD 2,617,160 hard court tournament.

This is the second-best performance of the season for Bopanna, who won the season-opening Chennai Open with compatriot Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Bopanna and Matkowski had shocked second seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers 5-7 6-3 11-9 in the opening round of one of the most-loved events on the calendar.

Bopanna could next find compatriot Leander Paes in the semifinals if the veteran Indian and his Spanish partner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez could go past third seeds Daniel Nestor from Canada and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

There is no Indian competing in the singles. Prajnesh Gunneswaran had lost in the first round of the Qualifying event, suffering a 2-6 2-6 defeat against Romania's 124th ranked Marius Copil.