Dodig/Melo upset Cermak/Polasek in the second round – French Open 2012
Unseeded team of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo fought back after losing the opener to beat Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the round of 32 at the French Open in Paris on Friday.
Dodig and Melo snatched a break in the fourth game and held his next serve to take a 4-1 lead. They failed to serve out the set at 5-3 and their opponents took full advantage by winning four games in a row, grabbing it 7-5.
Cermak and Polasek banged in one ace and the same number of double fault in the opener. They hit 66 percent of the first serves and won 18 of the 27 points on them. The Czech-Slovakian duo converted two of the seven break points
they received and saved five of the six they faced.
Just like the first set, Dodig and Melo hit a blow to Cermak and Polasek in the fourth game of the second and consolidated on it to go up 4-1. The Czech-Slovakian tandem claimed breakthrough in the seventh to reduce the trail to
3-4 but Dodig and Melo snatched two consecutively to seal it 6-3.
The Croatian-Brazilian team pounded five aces and 78 percent of the first deliveries in the second set. They claimed 13 of the 18 first and four of the five second serve points. Dodig and Melo fired five winners and did not commit
any unforced error.
In contrast to the opening two sets, both teams made a steady start in the decider, as they did not allow each other to claim a break in the first six games and squared off the score at 3-3. They exchanged a blow later on to take
the proceedings to 4-4. Dodig/Melo and Cermak/Polasek levelled the score at 6-6 and forced a tie-breaker, where the former played better to triumph 7-6(4).
The Croatian-Brazilian combination kept their first serve percentage at 56, converting 14 of the 24 of them into points. They, however, did not play very well at the net, as they lost four of the six points.
Dodig and Melo will face Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in the round of 16
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