Bracciali/Gonzalez rally past Cerretani/Marx into the last four – Bet-At-Home Cup 2011
Italian/Mexican team of Daniele Bracciali and Santiago Gonzalez beat James Cerretani of USA and Philipp Marx of Germany in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 in the quarterfinals at the Bet-At-Home Cup in Kitzbuhel on Tuesday. The Italian/Mexican
pair needed an hour and 28 minutes to oust their opponents in a tough encounter.
Cerretani and Marx drew the first blood as they broke Bracciali and Gonzalez in the sixth game to go ahead 4-2 but they could not consolidate on the break of serve, losing their serve in the very next game and dropping the eighth
game to square off the score at 4-4. Bracciali and Gonzalez did not stop and broke the American/German pair again in the ninth game and capitalised on it to win the set 6-4.
The Italian/Mexican duo grabbed fourteen of the 23 first service points and four of the six second service points in the first set. On the other hand, Cerretani and Marx hit 70 percent of the first serves and a single ace in the
opening set. The American/German team returned better than their opponents as they captured nine of the 23 first return points as compared to eight out of 23 by the Italian/Mexican pair. However, Cerretani and Marx failed to convert four of the five break
points they received and could not save two of the seven break points they faced on their own serve in the first set.
The American/German duo fought back as they broke Bracciali and Gonzalez in the second game of the second set and held their serve in the next game to race to a 3-0 lead. Bracciali and Gonzalez came back strongly after that as
they broke back in the seventh game and held their serve in the eighth game to equalise the score at 4-4. However, serving to stay in the set at 4-5, the Italian/Mexican team failed to hold their serve and lost the set 4-6.
In the match tie-break, Bracciali and Gonzalez claimed a late mini-break to take a 9-6 lead and capitalised on it to win 10-8.
The Italian/Mexican pair will play either Victor Hanescu/Frank Moser or Santiago Giraldo/Pere Riba in the semi-finals.
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