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Second seeds Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] and Mark Knowles survived a scare from Italians Simone Bolelli and Andreas Sippi before notching up a three-set win to advance to the finals of Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament in New Haven, US.

The Indo-Bahamian pair beat Bolleli and Sippi 6-3, 5-7, 10-7 to set up a clash with fourth seeds Brazillians Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa.

In a battle that lasted over an hour-and-a-half, Bhupathi and Knowles were put through a tough test by their unseeded opponents.

The opening set went the Indo-Bahamian pair's way but Bolleli and Sippi did well to recover and take the second set, in which they broke Bhupathi and Knowles twice besides saving five break-points.

However, Bolleli and Sippi ran out of steam in the deciding tie-breaker as Bhupathi and Knowles drew from their experience to scrape through.