Gonzalez/Lipsky topple Fleming/Hutchins to grab the crown – Hall of Fame Tennis Championships 2012
Third seeded Mexican-American duo of Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky captured their second title as a team, after defeating Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins of Great Britain in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-3 in the Campbell’s Hall
of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, USA on Sunday.
The first set saw both teams winning their serves till the end, squaring off the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Gonzalez and Lipsky made an ideal start, as they grabbed opening four points to race to a 4-0 lead. The
Mexican-American combination made the most of their advantage and closed it 7-6(3).
None of the two combinations managed to create a break opportunity in the opening set. Gonzalez and Lipsky thrashed their opponent’s with their fiery serve performance, banging in four aces and capturing all the 19 first delivery
points. They also gave a respectable performance on the second returns, clinching eight of the 18 points.
Gonzalez/Lipsky and Fleming/Hutchins also started the second set in a stable manner, as they did not drop their serve in the opening seven games to take the score to 4-3 in the former’s favour. The Mexican-American tandem stung
their opponents in the eighth and capitalised on it to win 6-3.
Ranked 38th in the world, Gonzalez and Lipsky hit a couple of aces but also made the same number of double faults this time. They maintained a first serve percentage of 69 and converted 15 of the 20 of them into points.
The Mexican-American pair further improved their second return showing, claiming two of the three points on them.
Gonzalez and Lipsky needed an hour and 17 minutes to undo their rivals in an easy match.
Sharing his view after the match, Lipsky stated, “It means a lot. It’s a great place, I enjoy playing here. I’m happy to come back here and now win it. I hope to come back next year to defend the title.”
The American added, “It’s exciting to win any title. It’s my sixth year here - I’ve made the semis [a couple times] - so it’s nice to get over the hump and win the title. It was a good match today. Those guys played well. They’re
a good team and so little determines wins and losses, but we played one good return game and it was enough.”
Gonzalez and Lipsky had won their only previous title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell last year.
Tags: