Fleming/Hutchins struggle past Elgin/Kudryavtsev to clinch double title – St. Petersburg Open 2011
In an enthralling doubles final at the St. Petersburg Open, third seeded British duo of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins went through some rough time before edging past the unseeded Russian pair of Michail Elgin and Alexandre Kudryavtsev on Sunday evening.
The nail-bitter took one hours and fifty one minutes of play to conclude, with the 16th ranked British team winning in three sets, 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-8, to claim the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 trophy.
Being played on the indoor hard courts of Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the local crowd witnessed some high quality display from both sides. Fleming and Hutchins got one up early in the matchup by pocketing the first set but the Russian opponents gradually made their way back in business in the following set. Elgin and Kudryavtsev brought down their opponents in the second set to enforce a super tie breaker in to play. The decider also went to the wire, with both duos toiling extremely hard to come on top but the contest ended in the dismay of the local crowd, as Elgin and Kudryavtsev got the better of the Russian pair to conclude the championship victory.
“It's a fantastic day for us," Hutchins said. "We've played Alexander and Mikhail about four times in the past 12 months, and all were very close matches, so we knew they would play very well and bring a high level. They're good tennis players so it was a tough match and we're happy to get this one
“We're very happy to win and be the champions of St. Petersburg this year... It's really quite big for us," said Fleming. "It's a nice tournament and a great city, so we love to come and play here.”
Fleming and Hutchins delivered 78 per cent of their serve on target and clinched 44 out of 62 first serve points, with Elgin and Kudryavtsev lagging far behind with 28 out of 40 points to finish on the losing side in the end. They converted two of their eight break opportunities and saved seven out of eight serve breaks from their opponents in the matchup to come out as the champions. The Britons remained aggressive throughout the contest and took the better of their opponents in the last moments of the contest to bag their first doubles title of the year.
Elgin and Kudryavtsev were playing their first ever ATP World Tour final but they frittered away the opportunity to reach glory, disappointing their home crowd in Saint Petersburg.
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