Fyrstenberg/Matkowski beat Bopanna/Qureshi to qualify for final – US Open 2011
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland reached their first grand slam final as they ousted last year’s finalists fifth seeds Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(4) in
the semi-finals of US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New York on Friday. The Poles took an hour and 22 minutes to derail the Indo-Pak Express.
Fyrstenberg and Matkowski took the lead straightaway, breaking the Indo-Pak pair in the first game of the match and holding their serve in the next game to build a 2-0 lead. The Poles broke Bopanna and Qureshi again in the third
game and consolidated on it to stretch their lead to 4-0. The Indo-Pak combination managed to hold their serve in the fifth game and avoided a bagel set. However, they failed to pull any break back and their opponents served out the set at 5-2.
The Poles had a low first serve percentage as they delivered just 43 percent of the first serves but still they managed to hit a couple aces and won seven of the nine first service points. The sixth seeds did not drop their second
serve speed, keeping their second deliveries above 100/mph during the first set. They sealed a whopping nine of the twelve points on the second serve as well in the opening set.
The second set saw Bopanna and Qureshi competing better than the first set. The Indo-Pak duo and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski did not lose their serve throughout the set to level the score at 6-6, forcing a tie-break. However, the Poles
raised the level of their game in the tie-break and hit some explosive serves to claim first three points, taking a 3-0 lead. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski capitalised on the early lead to win the tie-break 7-4.
Talking to the reporters after that match, a jubilant Fyrstenberg said, "It's the first Grand Slam final of our careers so it's a really fantastic feeling. We served very well today and we beat a top team in Bopanna-Qureshi, who
were in the final here last year. I'm really enjoying this feeling of being in the final. With every match, we've played better and better so tomorrow I hope we play the same. I think if we serve well and wait for our chances to break our opponents, it can
all work out. We hope that it's going to be like this."
The Polish team, seeded sixth at the event, will play ninth seeds Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Philipp Petzschner of Germany in the title match.
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