Ferrer/Lopez, Benneteau/Gasquet cruise to the last four of men’s doubles – London Olympics
Ferrer/Lopez beat Cilic/Dodig 6-4, 6-4
Spanish duo of David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez secured their place in the last four by beating Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig of Croatia in twin sets 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals at the London Olympics on Thursday.
Ferrer and Lopez needed one hour and eight minutes to throw their rivals out of the competition.
The Spanish tandem hit a blow to their Croatian opponents in the very first game of the match and consolidated on it to attain a 2-0 lead. Ferrer and Lopez held their entire serves and never allowed Cilic and Dodig to stage a comeback,
sealing it 6-4.
In the second set, Ferrer/Lopez and Cilic/Dodig won their opening serves to level the proceedings at 1-1. The Spanish pair claimed a breakthrough in the third game and capitalised on it to move ahead 3-1. Once again, Ferrer and
Lopez maintained their lead till the end to capture it 6-4.
The Spaniards converted two of the four break points they received in the match. Ferrer and Lopez entered the event as an unseeded team but they have done tremendously well to reach this stage.
Talking to the reporters during the post match press conference, Lopez said, “We are absolutely delighted.”
On the other hand, Ferrer stated, “It is one step closer to our dream, but it is going to be tough to win the next round.”
The Spanish combination will lock horns with the second seeded French duo of Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals.
Benneteau/Gasquet defeat Tipsarevic/Zimonjic 6-4, 7-6(3)
Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet of France stunned the third seeds, Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic, in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the semi-finals. The French tandem required an hour and 20 minutes to win the contest.
Benneteau/Gasquet and Tipsarevic/Zimonjic started by breaking each other in the opening two games of the contest and squared off the score at 1-1. The subsequent seven were held by both teams, taking the score to 5-4 in favour
of the Frenchmen. Serving to stay in the set at that moment, Tipsarevic and Zimonjic could not hold their serve and went down 4-6.
There was no break of serve throughout the second set, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Benneteau and Gasquet allowed Tipsarevic and Zimonjic to win just three points afterwards, closing it 7-6(3).
The French team will take on the best doubles team in the history of tennis, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, in the semi-finals.
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