But when they clinched their first ever place in the round of eight with a dominating 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win, their ability to rise to the big occasion was very much in evidence, yet again.

The match was played under extremely tough conditions with swirling wind making it really difficult to control the serves and returns. On top of it, it was a rather chilly day out there and both the teams were finding the going tough.

Despite the win, Mahesh Bhupathi came under an injury cloud, once again, when he hurt his left hamstring during the first set. The trainer was called in towards the end of the first set and fortunately for him, the rain interruption gave him time to rest it.After the rain break, he returned with his thigh heavily strapped, and it was clear his movements on court were rather hampered and he looked to be in some pain. He had a pretty average day otherwise as he was broken twice in the second set and then in the third and fourth sets as well and even struggled to get his otherwise deadly returns going.

Paes, meanwhile, played admirably, not only holding his serve throughout the match but even returning so well that Bhupathi's apparent flaws were taken care of. It was a good sign indeed with both trying to lift the other up when one was under pressure.

Patrick Galbraith, the 32-year-old former doubles world number one, was the joker in the pack in more ways than one. He was the one the Indians targeted in the first set. In the third game of the first, the short, balding Galbraith struggled with the game going to three deuces. He had to give up when a lunging Paes volley helped the Indians take the first concrete step towards victory. Riding on that break,Paes-Bhupathi went a set up but soon they were driven back to the locker room by rain. When play resumed, Bhupathi dropped the second game to surrender the lead for the first time and when Paes went down two break points in the fourth, the large Indian supporters looked really tense. However, the way both Paes and Bhupathi picked themselves up was indeed incredible.

In the seventh, they put pressure on the big-serving Gimelstob who, on break point, double faulted to let the Indians get back on par. In the 10th, however, Bhupathi serving to keep them in the set faced a break point and double faulted to give the set away.

Galbraith came to the Indians' rescue again in the third set to drop his serve in the third to go down 1-2. In the fifth, Indians again had a chance to break Gimelstob when he was 15-40. He saved both of them, but Indians almost had him at the third break point but Bhupathi couldn't control the volley.

Then came the eighth game where Bhupathi came under tremendous pressure particularlywith the Gimelstob returns. That was a big game for the Indians but they went on to drop it. They came right back and this time had Gimelstob broken at 15. It was a great return by Paes which set up the break and he served out the third set with little sweat.

The fourth and final set almost had a similar pattern with the poor Galbraith bearing the brunt of the Indians' whipping returns. His body language at that stage was next to nothing and after he dropped the first game, it was as if he sank into the ground. Paes-Bhupathi had the match almost wrapped-up. A below-par Bhupathi was broken in the very next. Things were getting rather tight for the Indians but Gimelstob it was who cracked in the fifth game -- Indians took the game at the first break point -- to give away the decisive lead.

Bhupathi had his huge first serves in place when he served for the match. Gimelstob's lob at the first match point going too long. Soon, the rain returned, but by then Paes and Bhupathi were home and dry. They now meetthe winners of Sebastian Lareau (Can) and Alex O'Brien (US) versus Bob and Mike Bryan for a place in the semifinals.