Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] kept the Indian interest alive at the US $1,410,000 Barclays Dubai Championships by advancing to the doubles semi-finals along with his Bahamas partner Mark Knowles.

The fourth-seed Indo-Bahamas pair registered a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 quarter-final victory over the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal [Images] and Feliciano Lopez on Thursday night.

They take on second seed Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Julian Knowle of Austria, who had ousted the Leander Paes-Paul Hanley combine in the first round.

Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq had earlier crashed out of the event, losing their quarter-final to the top-seeded pair of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonzic.