Ebden/Harrison upset Lipsky/Ram in the quarter-finals – Hall of Fame Championships 2011
A major upset was seen at the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships quarter-final, when the top seeded American duo of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram crashed out of the tournament at the hands of the team of Matthew Ebden from
Australia and Ryan Harrison from the United States on Thursday.
The wildcard pair of Ebden and Harrison stunned everyone present at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, by ejecting the hot favourite duo from the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour 250 event. They took down Lipsky and Ram in three sets after a stiff contest, settling the final scores at 6-3, 3-6, 10-7, to qualify for the semi-final of the tournament.
Ebden and Harrison had a blistering start to the contest and exhibited aggressive tennis approach right from the start to depict their intentions early. They were quick to get hold of the game, breaking their opponents’ serve early
to lead 4-2 and then carried on with their momentum to take the opener. Lipsky and Ram played very well in the opening set and reeled of 12 out of 15 first serve points but failed to strike a break point, frittering away the one break opportunity they had
in the fourth game.
With eight fiery aces, the first set fell to Ebden and Harrison’s name at 6-3 to give them a commanding position in the competition but a major momentum swing took place in the very next set. Lipsky and Ram got their eye in the
game in the second and came out firing at their opponents, reeling off 15 out of 18 first serve points. The American pair cracked their first serve break of the day to reach set point at 5-3 and then served out of the set with ease to level the contest at
one set a piece.
It was anticipated that Lipsky and Ram have got their winning momentum back and will bag the third set to register a victory but the decider witnessed another turnaround in the matchup. Ebden and Harrison used their combined efforts
to perfection, securing a number of crucial points to drive the top seeded pair out of the tournament. They reached 10-7 to conclude a surprising victory over Lipsky and Ram, making a berth in the semi-finals of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Ebden and Harrison will take on the combination of Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and Frank Moser of Germany in their next round clash to get into the final of the tournament.
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