Bracciali/Starace, Mertinak/Sa win first round matches – Copa Claro 2012
Daniele Bracciali/Potito Starace beat Maximo Gonzalez/Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-2, 10-7
Top seeds Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace came back from a deficit of one set to beat Argentinean/Japanese pair of Maximo Gonzalez and Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 in the opening round at the Copa Claro on Wednesday. Italian duo took an hour and 17
minutes to beat their opponent in a close match.
Gonzalez and Nishikori made a great start, as they captured first four games to take a 4-0 lead. The Argentinean-Japanese combination maintained the advantage till the end of the set, clinching it 6-2.
Both teams held their serve in the first two games to level the score at 1-1 in the second set. Bracciali and Starace broke their opponents in the third game and consolidated on it to grab a 3-1 lead. The Italian claimed their opponents’ serve again in the
seventh game and served out the set at 5-2.
Bracciali and Starace snatched a mini-break early in the match tie-breaker. They did not allow Gonzalez and Nishikori to come back, winning it 10-7.
The Italians will meet Eric Prodon of France and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina in the quarterfinals. Prodon and Zeballos ousted Facundo Arguello and Agustin Velotti of Argentina 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 in the first round.
Michal Mertinak/Andre Sa defeat Simone Bolelli/Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-4
Joining the top seeds in the last eight, second seeds Michal Mertinak of Slovakia and Andre Sa of Brazil outplayed the Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Filippo Volandri in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. The match lasted for just an hour and
15 minutes.
Mertinak/Sa and Bolelli/Volandri held their serve in the first three game to take the score 2-1 in favour of the former. The Slovakian-Brazilian pair made a breakthrough in the fourth game and held their serve in the next to go up 4-1. Mertinak and Sa served
out the set at 5-3.
The Slovakian-Brazilian combination delivered 75 percent of the first serves and converted 16 of the 21 of them into points. They won four of the five second return points.
In the second set, neither of the two teams was able to break the other in the first six games, squaring off the score at 3-3. Mertinak and Sa claimed a breakthrough in the seventh game but Bolelli and Volandri fought back to level the score at 4-4. However,
the Slovakian-Brazilian team drew the final blood, snatching two games in a row to win the set 6-4.
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