Granollers/Marach battles past Lipsky/Ram into second round – China Open 2011
Marcel Granollers/Oliver Marach battled past Scott Lipsky/Rajeev Ram 6-4, 2-6, 10-4 on Wednesday to advance into the second round of 2011 China Open here at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing, China. Unseeded at the Association
of Tennis Professionals tournament, the pair teamed up brilliantly to win crucial rallies in the match.
Granollers/Marach looked to attack right from the start of the match. The pair served really well as they had no problems holding on to their service games. Placing the winners all over the court, Granollers/Marach converted the
chances they were presented to take driving seat in the match. Breaking the serve in seventh game of the opening set, they took a very crucial 4-3 lead in the set.
Showing no signs of nerves, Granollers/Marach held on to their next two service games quite comfortably to clinch the opening set 6-4. Lipsky/Ram had their chances but they failed to convert them under pressure. Committing a large
number of unforced errors in early on, they let the opposition team take control of the match.
Looking for an entry back into the contest, Lipsky/Ram started the second set on a very positive note as they took their opening serve game with four straight points. Displaying some high quality tennis, the pair broke the serve
twice to shift the balance of the match. Holding on to all of their service games without any trouble, Lipsky/Ram bagged the set to even the set score 1-1.
Granollers/Marach were really disappointing in the second set as they failed to grab few easy chances. It will not be wrong to say that they paid the heavy price for loss in concentration and momentum. Making double faults at crucial
moments, they were always asking for trouble.
Granollers/Marach bounced back brilliantly in the final set as some high quality tennis was witnessed. Showing great fighting spirit and determination, the pair again took control of the match. Lipsky/Ram were also up for the challenge
and they put up a brilliant fight to force the set into a tie-breaker. A nail biting encounter was observed in the tie-breaker as the momentum from one side to another.
Granollers/Marach showed no signs of nerves as they clinch the tie-breaker to seal a memorable victory in a match that lasted for 1 hour and 15 minutes. They will be hoping to continue their good form in the upcoming matches as
well to make it all the way to the finals. Lipsky/Ram, on the other hand, should learn from their mistakes and they are expected to come back strongly on their next appearance on the tour.
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