Bautista-Agut/Navarro defeat Gabashvili/Kukushkin to reach the semis – Open Castilla y Leon 2011 CH
Local duo of Roberto Bautista-Agut and Ivan Navarro stood victorious against the combination Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the quarter-final clash of Open Castilla y Leon on Thursday afternoon.
Being played at Segovia, Spain, the contest featured the home favourite pair winning in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-4, to book a spot in the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event. It was a fairly poised matchup with Gabashvili and Kukushkin competing very well but failing to take down the Spanish duo in the end.
Bautista-Agut and Navarro made a perfect combination of their individual tennis skills to outplay one of the most dangerous tennis duos of the tournament in style. The Spaniards went through tough times in the opening set but eventually bagged it in the tie breaker round to get a strong position in the matchup. Bautista-Agut and Navarro went on with their winning momentum in the following set as well and concluded a convincing victory to make it to the round of four of Open Castilla y Leon.
Gabashvili and Kukushkin secured 29 out of 41 first serve points in the game while the Spaniard winners clinched 35 out of 41 points t en route to victory. Only one serve break was seen in the entire matchup and it came from the racquets of Bautista-Agut and Navarro in the second set to assist them close out victory.
Both pairs failed to crack in a serve break in the opening set and held their serves throughout. The scores got dead locked at 6-6 after exchanges of a number of winners from both sides. A decisive tie breaker round came into play and Gabashvili and Kukushkin failed to continue with their impetus, letting easy opportunities to their opponents to get hold of the game. Bautista-Agut and Navarro wrapped up the opening set at 7-6(3), to get one up in the contest.
The Spaniards reeled off 19 out of 22 first serve points in the second set and registered the only serve break of the day to inch closer to victory. Bautista-Agut and Navarro faced no real difficulty in serving out of the match at 6-4, getting a pass to the semi-finals of the tournament, where they will take on the third seeded pair of Nicolas Mahut of France and Lovro Zovko of Croatia. The third seeded duo was successful against the Spanish team of Pablo Carreno-Busta and Gerard Granollers in the quarter-final clash a day before.
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