Granollers/Lopez oust Delgado/Skupski to enter quarters – US Open 2012
Sixth seeded Spaniards, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, stomped over the British tandem, Jamie Delgado and Ken Skupski, in straight sets at the US Open 2012 on Monday. They penned down a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Brits to secure a spot in the final eight at this major hard court event held in Corona Park in Queens, United States.
The Spanish collaboration showed exceptional co-ordination to dump Delgado and Skupski in their first encounter. After registering the success in one hour and nine minutes, Granollers and Lopez comfortably advanced into the quarter-finals at this final of the four Grand Slam events taking place from 27th August to 9th September.
Granollers and Lopez enthusiastically entered the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. They drew the first blood in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. After Delgado and Skupski held their serve in the fifth game, the Spaniards wiped out the last three games and clicked the opener with a 6-2 win in almost half an hour. They brushed off the lone breakpoint they faced and converted half of the four break chances to their advantage.
The seeds maintained their intensity in the following set. They broke their rivals' serve in the opening game and took the initial lead. Granollers and Lopez pocketed their entire serves after that and ultimately sealed the set by winning six games to four.
On the whole, the Spaniards fully capitalised on 18 unforced errors including seven double faults their opponents spilled. They also produced a better first serve share of 75 per cent as opposed to the Brits’ 64 per cent and amazingly marked 29 out of 38 points on it.
Next up for the Spaniards are the 15th seeds, Austria’s Alexander Peya and Brazil’s Bruno Soares. Peya and Soares made an epic comeback from a set down to outrun the Czech-Slovak junction, Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak, in a three-set thriller to set up this battle.
The unseeded French junction, Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, will accompany Granollers and Lopez in the last eight. They stunned the 12th seeds, Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo, in straight sets to progress.
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