So, in this classic chalk-and-cheese scenario, the two Indians may well fancy their chances of meeting in the final. The way 321st ranked Bhupathi knocked out second-seed Vladimir Voltchkov 6-3, 6-3, gave enough indications that the big server is on a roll, quite in contrast to Paes' laboured 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Jeff Coetzee in almost two hours.

Voltchkov came into the tournament after almost knocking out Carlos Moya in the first round at the Chennai Gold Flake Open. But here, he was so flat there was hardly anything worthwhile going for him.

``He didn't play that well, to be honest,'' Bhupathi said later. But that did not take thecredit away from the Indian.

The heartening fact about Bhupathi's game today was that he kept unforced errors to the minimum, served well and did not give any pace on his returns for the 135th ranked Voltchkov to feed off. Moreover, it was a big match for Bhupathi. He had to win this to be able to play the French Open qualifying (he was the last one out last year); this was also the last week he could play singles till after the French Open.

With this win, he also broke into the 200s, something which he wasn't able to do in a long time. Braving giddiness -- the trainer was called in midway through the second set -- and heat-induced boils in his body, Bhupathi controlled points from the back of the court so well that the Belarussian, no spring chicken himself, was often in a spot. Bhupathi had the angles well covered and in his desperation to outhit the Indian, Voltchkov often send his returns long.

A backhand which sailed long got Bhupathi the break in the eighth game of the first and then served outthe set at love with booming serves. Voltchkov's hopes vanished along with the set as he could hold his serve just twice in the second set -- first and third -- before Bhupathi wrapped up the match in quick time.

Meanwhile, it was another day of struggle for the top Indian. With his serve in disarray, Paes had to put in lot of effort to win points. He missed some volleys which he would have normally put away in his sleep and it was so evident that the top Indian had trouble concentrating on his tennis.

In the 10th game of the second set -- he won the first -- Paes went down a set point. He almost saved it by a good first volley but Coetzee reached it and managed to get it back. Paes was at the net and all he had to was to tap the ball back to the open court. Instead, he sliced the return which hit the tape and fell back to lose the set.

The only good thing is that Paes is not meeting the big serving sixth seed Uzbek Oleg Ogorodov, who beat Paes in Chennai a couple of years ago in the semis. Ogorodovlost today but Paes has too many factors to take care of before he can afford a smile.

Results:

Singles (quarter-finals):Leander Paes (Ind) bt Jeff Coetzee (RSA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Gregory Carraz (Fra) bt Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Gaston Etlis (Arg) bt Andreas Vinciguerra (Swe) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Vladimir Voltchkov (Blr) 6-3, 6-3.

Semifinal line-up: Paes vs Carraz; Bhupathi vs Etlis

Doubles (quarterfinals):B Cowan/W Whitehouse bt G Carraz/G Etlis 6-4, 7-6 (7-5),