2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open: Roger Federer moves into finals; Nadal-Lopez win doubles title
The 29-year-old Roger Federer from Switzerland continued his impressive run of form in Doha as he got the better of Jo Wilfried Tsonga in two sets to make his way into the final of the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday. The
final score line was 6-3, 7-6(2).
“I thought I started off the match really well. In the second set it got a bit more competitive. I think he started to play better and better. Fortunately I was serving well, that kept me out of a bit of trouble. I was able to
play a bit better in the tie-break and in the end it was a great match for me, because Tsonga can play really, really well,” reflected the Swiss after the match.
Federer, as a result of this victory, has reached the title battle in Doha on the third occasion in his career.
He started off the match strongly and quickly took a lead of 3-0. Tsonga looked completely helpless, particularly in the first set, as Roger went on to win it at 6-3. In the decisive set, both the contenders played some impressive
tennis and put up a good fight till the end before Federer finally sealed it in eighty four minutes.
World number two Federer picked up his first title in Doha back in 2005 after thrashing out Ivan Ljubicic in the finals. His second tournament crown came just after a year when the right hander overpowered Gael Monfils to emerge
victorious in the end.
Meanwhile, in the doubles action, Rafael Nadal, after facing a semifinal loss at the hands of Nikolay Davydenko, paired up with Marc Lopez to play the doubles final match in Doha. The Spaniard along with his compatriot fellow did
well to beat the Italian tandem of Andreas Seppi and Daniele Bracciali in straight sets. The final score line was 6-3, 7-6(4). It was their third career doubles title as a pair. They previously won the crown at BNP Paribas Open back in 2010.
“It is a perfect feeling for me to win my third doubles title here in Doha after a not easy week for me. It is a very positive thing to finish with a victory. I am very happy for that and right now I am going to work hard to try
to be ready for the next tournament,” said the world number one Rafael Nadal after the match.
Rafa along with Lopez also won the Doha title back in 2009. The pair was in quest for its first team title at that time and successfully dispatched off Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor in straight sets.
Both of them did not start off ideally as Lopez’s serve was broken in the opening game of the first set. The pair, however, took no time to recover and thus earned a lead of one set in the end. In the decisive set, a total of six
service games were exchanged before the Spanish tandem came out victorious. The battle concluded in a time period of one hour and thirty three minutes.
Seppi, as a result of this loss dropped to a mark of 0-4 in the doubles final whereas Bracciali made it to 2-2 on the tour. Both of them were competing in their debut ATP World Tour doubles final and they would consider that the
tour finished on a disappointing note for them.
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