2010 Valencia Open 500: Wednesday Doubles Review
As play finished on the third day of the Valencia Open, the remaining doubles matches for the first round were wrapped up. Eight teams battled it out for the remaining spots in the quarterfinals. With one match ending the day’s
play in Agora, all the remaining three matches were played on the side court.
The Doubles matches commenced with the top seeded team of Polish Lukasz Kubot and Austrian Oliver Marach taking to the court. The two have been partners since 2007 and have appeared in eight finals over the years, winning titles
at five of them. The much acclaimed pair met locals, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Albert Montanes. In a thirty five minute long match that followed the Polish / Austrian duo enjoyed a landslide victory over their opponents. The locals failed to make much of
their home advantage, as they were mercilessly dismissed by the top team. Kubot / Marach move into the quarterfinals with a one sided victory of 6-1, 6-0 to face the team of Wesley Moodie from South Africa and d**k Norman from Belgium.
Following the Polish / Austrian duo were third seeds and Polish compatriots, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski; however, the seeded team was not so lucky in their meeting. The Polish duo met the Argentinean duo, Juan Ignacio
and Eduardo Schwank. The Argentineans humiliated the Polish in the first set denying them a single win, as they won the first set 6-0. The Polish bounced back in the second set to return the favour though the Argentineans managed to win one game. Losing the
second set 1-6, the Argentineans entered the tie breaker. What followed was a neck to neck race to take the lead. Both teams were maintaining the score till 10-10, trying desperately not to give the lead; however, the Argentineans caught a break and managed
to score two consecutive points winning the set in effect. The final match score was 6-0, 1-6, 12-10.
Fourth seeds, Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Indian Rohan Bopanna met tough competition from the Uruguayan / Argentinean duo, Pablo Cuevas and Juan Monaco. However, in a three setter clash that followed the Indo Pak express
eventually emerged victorious. The pair managed to take the lead in the first set though Cuevas and Monaco caught up soon enough, taking the set into a tie breaker. In a race to seven that followed, both teams were neck to neck keeping the score levelled;
however, Bopanna and Qureshi managed to cross the seven point mark first, winning the tie breaker. Though they won the tie breaker they lost the second set to Cuevas and Monaco by 4-6. Having won one set each, the two teams entered yet another tie breaker
with each team serving two consecutive serves. The two teams found themselves in a fierce round of “service and return” with no one allowing their opponents to take the lead. The score was leveled till 12-12, however, in the end Qureshi and Bopanna managed
to win two consecutive points making the score 14-12 and winning the match.
The only doubles match played at the Agora was that of locals David Marrero and Marc Lopez against compatriots Marcel Granollers and Ivan Navarro. Granollers and Navarro were wild card entries into the tournament. Although both
teams enjoyed the home advantage, Marrero and Lopez proved to be a far more talented, yet a luckier pair than their countrymen. In a three setter clash that lasted for one hour and thirty two minutes, Marrero and Lopez managed only a tight win over their opponents.
Granollers and Navarro gave their compatriots a tough time snatching a victory in the second set after losing the first one and took the match into a tie breaker. Marrero and Lopez eventually won the tie breaker at 10-8 to secure a spot for themselves in the
quarterfinals. They will face the team of Qureshi and Bopanna.
Tags: