Bracciali/Norman battle past Berlocq/Fognini into quarterfinals – German Tennis Championships 2011
Daniele Bracciali of Italy and d**k Norman of Belgium defeated Argentinean/Italian team of Carlos Berlocq and Fabio Fognini in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 in the opening round at the German Tennis Championships in Hamburg on Wednesday.
The match lasted for an hour and 35 minutes.
Bracciali and Norman broke the Argentinean/Italian pair in the fourth game of the first set and held their serve in the next game to grab a 4-1 lead. The Italian/Belgian pair capitalised on the single break of serve and served
out the set in the ninth game, claiming it 6-3.
The 177th ranked team delivered 77 percent of the first serves and a single ace in the opening set. Bracciali and Norman grabbed 65 percent of the first service points and 71 percent of the second service points in the
first set. The Italian/Belgian duo captured seven of the twenty first return points. In comparison, Berlocq and Fognini converted thirteen of the twenty first serves and eight of the 23 first returns into points in the opening set. The Argentinean/Italian
pair could not convert any of the three break points they received and failed to save one of the five break points they faced in the first set.
Berlocq/Fognini and the Italian/Belgian pair exchanged a couple of breaks of serve in the first ten games of the second set to square off the score at 5-5. The Argentinean/Italian combination held their serve in the eleventh game
and broke their opponents in the twelfth game to win the set 7-5.
The unseeded team kept their first serve percentage at 79 percent, winning 58 percent of the first service points and 86 percent of the second service points in the second set. Berlocq and Fognini won a total of 44 percent of the
return points in the second set. The Argentinean/Italian team capitalised on three of the seven break point opportunities they created on Bracciali and Norman’s serve and saved two of the four break points on their own serve in the second set.
In the match tie-break, Bracciali and Norman fought back and bagged a late mini-break, consolidating on it to win 10-8.
The Italian/Belgian pair captured four of the five first service points and three of the four second service points in the match tie-break. On the other hand, Berlocq and Fognini won six of the eight first service points and failed
to win the only second service point in the match tie-break.
Bracciali and Norman are slated to take on Sergiy Stakhovsky and Radek Stepanek in the quarterfinals.
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