Beck/Kas down Dlouhy/Mertinak in the quarterfinals – German Tennis Championships 2011
Andreas Beck and Christopher Kas of Germany came back after dropping the opening set to battle past Czech/Slovakian combination of Lukas Dlouhy and Michal Mertinak in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 13-11 in the quarterfinals at the German
Tennis Championships in Hamburg on Thursday. The match lasted for an hour and 31 minutes.
Dlouhy/Mertinak and the Germans exchanged two breaks of serve in the first eleven games of the first set to take the score to 6-5 in favour of the former. The Czech/Slovakian pair broke Beck and Kas in the twelfth game to win the
set 7-5.
Dlouhy and Mertinak kept their first serve percentage at 68 percent and hit one ace in the opening set. The Czech/Slovakian team grabbed 65 percent of the first service points. They were bashed by their opponents on the second
serve, losing seven of the eleven second service points in the first set. The Czech/Slovakian pair, however, returned very well as they bagged eight of the twenty first return points and seven of the fourteen second return points in the opening set. Dlouhy
and Mertinak capitalised on three of the six break point opportunities they created on the German team’s serve and saved three of the five break points on their own serve in the first set.
After losing a close first set, Beck and Kas made a good start in the second set as they broke the Czech/Slovakian duo in the first game and held their next service game to take a 2-0 lead. The Germans broke again in the ninth
game to win the set 6-3.
Beck and Kas delivered 71 percent of the first serves, converting eleven of the fifteen points on them in the second set. The Germans had a superb second serve conversion rate, winning a whopping 83 percent of the second service
points. On the other hand, their opponents succeeded in claiming just 33 percent of the points on the second serve. The Germans saved all the three break points they faced and converted both break points they received on the Czech/Slovakian duo’s serve in
the second set.
In the match tie-break, Beck and Kas drew the first blood as they claimed a mini-break to take a 5-3 lead. Dlouhy and Mertinak won three connective points to level the score at 9-9. Beck and Kas captured the decisive mini-break
and won the match tie-break 13-11.
The wild card entrants are drawn to face third seeds Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya of Austria in the semi-finals.
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