Indian tennis star 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.
The unseeded Indo-German pair upset the Poland-Serbian combo 6-4, 6-4 in their quarter-final, which lasted an hour and 16 minutes.
Following the victory, Paes has a chance to play his first final of the season on the 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.
Reaching the semi-finals of the Delray Beach Open in February with Jeremy Chardy was Paes's best showing this season. They pair lost to Mike and Bob Bryan.
It was a sort of revenge victory for Paes, who, partnering compatriot Roahn Bopanna, lost to the Polish duo of Kubot and Marcin Matkowski in the first round at the Rio Olympics.
Paes-Begemann will meet third seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi, who got past Marin Draganja and Dominic Inglot 7-6(12), 6-7(4), 10-8 in another quarter-final.
