Dodig/Melo shock Paes/Stepanek to reach quarters – Western and Southern Open 2012
Croatian-Brazilian duo, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, stunned the fifth seeds, India’s Leander Paes and Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek, in a three-set nail-biter at the Western and Southern Open 2012 on Thursday. They joggled up a 6-3, 4-6, 10-5 success
against the Indian-Czech tandem to power into the final eight at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event taking place in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The unseeded junction tumbled the fourth ranked team in their second encounter at this outdoor hard court tournament. The teams previously fought each other at the Wimbledon Championships earlier this season and after bagging this match, they improved to
a 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series against Paes and Stepanek.
Dodig and Melo entered the Lindner Family Tennis Center in high spirits. They swiftly swiped their entire serves without facing any trouble. The Croatian-Brazilian pair cashed in the lone break chance in the eighth game and clinched the opener with a 6-3
score line.
The fifth seeded duo rebounded in the follow-up set despite facing initial set back. They lost their serve in the third game and went 1-3 down. However, after Dodig and Melo held their serve in the sixth game, the seeds unleashed their skills to go on a
four-game rampage. Paes and Stepanek brushed off two out of three breakpoints they faced and cashed in both break chances to capture the equaliser with a 6-4 success.
Ranked 14th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings, Dodig and Melo re-gained their strength in the final set which counted the most. They jumped to a 3-1 lead in it before carving out the decider with a 10-5 win.
Overall, Dodig and Melo nudged up a lower first serve share of 49 per cent as opposed to their seeded rivals’ 75 per cent. However, they brilliantly marked 24 out of 27 points on it and finished the match with 61 points.
Next up for Dodig and Melo is the Italian-Serbian tandem, Andreas Seppi and Victor Troicki, who upset the top seeded Belarusian-Canadian junction, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor, in three sets to set up this meeting.
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