Dellacqua/Stubbs upset Huber/Raymond in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open
Tennis fans at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain, witnessed a surprising upset when the Australian duo of Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs outplayed the fourth seeded American pair of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the second
round of the doubles category of the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday. The Aussies wrapped up straight sets victory at 6-4, 6-3, in just one hour and five minutes to book a quarter-final berth of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) clay-court tournament.
The fourth seeded pair of the Americans was deemed to be one of the strongest contenders for the Madrid title but a magnificent show of aggressive tennis from Dellacqua and Stubbs stunned everyone. The Australian pair was brilliant
throughout the contest and beat their opponents in every segment of the game. They coughed four double faults but they didn’t cost them much as the American opponents also conceded the similar number of errors.
Dellacqua and Stubbs had six chances to break serve and they converted five of the opportunities en route to victory. Their serve was broken twice but the Aussies remained focused in the game to snatch the advantage back from their
opponents with their accurate stroke play. Dellacqua and Stubbs clinched 25 of 33 first serve points in the competition and were equally good with their return game.
The American duo had a decent start to the opening set, breaking in the second game to lead 2-0. After a cautious beginning, Dellacqua and Stubbs gradually gathered pace to take down their opponents. They levelled the scores at
3-3 with a timely break point and then pushed hard at their rivals to consolidate their position in the set. Huber and Raymond sneaked another serve break a game later, only to be broken again in the very next game.
Dellacqua and Stubbs continued with their accurate power hitting and a third serve break proved vital for them to bag the first set at 6-4. The Aussie pair carried on their momentum in the next set as well and gave no chance to
the fourth seeded duo to crack a serve break this time round. Despite of a par first serve of 52 per cent, Dellacqua and Stubbs cracked two serve breaks to race to victory at 603, earning a place in the quarter-finals.
The Australians will either face the seventh seeded Spanish duo of Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues or the team of Hsieh Su-wei and Yan Zi in the round of eight.
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