The possibility of an almost Indian showdown in the ATP Miami Masters' final was wiped out after Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the event in the semi-finals, even as Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek advanced to the title round.
Seventh seeds Paes-Stepanek caused a major upset, beating formidable top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan 6-4, 6-4, but the 'Indian Express' went down 2-6, 4-6 to second seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canada's Daniel Nestor.
Paes-Stepanek, who had defeated the Bryan brothers in the Australian Open title clash earlier this year, took an hour and 11 minutes to topple their fancied opponents.
The Indo-Czech combo go into the final without having dropped a set in the tournament thus far.
They won 66 points, compared to 43 by the Americans during the semi-final encounter.
However, Paes-Stepanek could convert only three of as many as 11 break-points they got.
Meanwhile, the sixth seeded Bhupathi-Bopanna lost in less than an hour to the Belarus-Canadian pair.
The Indians, who had recently won the Dubai Duty Free Championships, failed to convert any of the six break-points that came their way, though they saved three of six break-points Mirnyi-Nestor forced.
