Chardy/Kubot cripples Mertinak/Sa to grab title – Mercedes Cup 2012
Unseeded tandem of France’s Jeremy Chardy and Poland’s Lukasz Kubot stunned the fourth seeds, Slovakia’s Michal Mertinak and Brazil’s Andre Sa, with a breadstick at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Sunday. They jolted down a 6-1, 6-3 victory against their seeded
opponents to lift their maiden career title together at the Tennis Club Weissenhof in Stuttgart, Germany.
The French-Polish duo showed exceptional skills and co-ordination to upset Mertinak and Sa in straight sets. After earning the spotlight in one hour and seven minutes, Chardy and Kubot shared €19,660 in prize money and 250 ATP Doubles Team Rankings point.
The Jubilant Poll stated, "It was a very good week for us. We made the final in Bucharest and now we have won the title. I think we can be a very dangerous team... the conditions today suited us. I think we played very solid today - maybe our best match
of the tournament."
"I think we played very aggressively," Chardy was quoted after the match. "All week we played very solid. We played one of our best matches together today. It was difficult with the rain, but we returned to the court and Lukasz was solid on his serve to
win."
Chardy and Kubot stormed into the Stuttgart dirt and stroke out the opening five games in a row before their rivals could hold on. They plucked their serve once more and pocketed the opener with a breadstick.
Ranked 33rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Doubles Ranking, Chardy and Kubot kept momentum rolling into the follow-up set and got the coveted break in the third game, eventually taking a 2-1 lead. Apart from losing their edge in the
very next game, the French-Polish collaboration strokes out the last four games successively and clicked the set with a 6-3 win.
Overall, the winning junction produced a better first serve share of 70 per cent as opposed to their rival’s 65 per cent and impressively marked 21 out of 30 points on it. They committed more double faults but capitalised on five out of seven break chances
to steal the limelight.
Both stars have previously secured a final berth at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest in April.
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