Huber/ Raymond oust Hantuchova/ Radwanska in semi-final – US Open 2011
Opening the semi final of the US Open 2011 Women’s Doubles event was the un-seeded duo of Daniela Hantuchova besides Agnieszka Radwanska against the number four seeds Liezel Huber with Lisa Raymond. The two battled it out on Grandstand
of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. The number four seeds (Huber/ Raymond) finally ended the run of the un-seeded pair (Hantuchova/ Radwanska) in straight sets of 6-2, 6-4 in just 73 minutes of play.
Opening the first round of the set was Team USA (Huber/ Raymond), both the teams won on their respective serves in the first three games. However, in the fourth game the score had equalized at 2-2 and in the fifth game team USA
held their serve. During the sixth game Huber/ Raymond broke Hantuchova/ Radwanska for the first time and in the sixth by holding their serve took the lead at 5-2. Serving to stay in the set were Hantuchova and Radwanska, while the American squad was looking
to break them to win the set. During the game point the Slovak and the Pole (Hantuchova/ Radwanska) sprayed a forehand wide and team America won the break.
The second set was again opened by the American pair and in the first two games both the teams won on their respective serves. However, this time it was Hantuchova/ Radwanska to break first but it was a short lived victory as the
American couple broke back in the next game. In the fifth game the Slovak/ Pole again broke the American squad but not wanting the Slovak/ Pole mix to take the lead Huber/ Raymond broke back to even the score in the sixth game. The two teams again broke each
other back to back in the seventh and eighth game to balance each other’s score at 4-4. As the two teams were blow for a blow, team America held their serve to take the lead in the ninth game and in the tenth game Hantuchova/ Radwanska were looking to hold
their serve so that they can equalize the score but pouncing at the first opportunity Huber/ Raymond place a backhand volley winner and break their opponents.
Although, Huber / Raymond had smashed zero aces, they had hit 27 winners in the match and with a total of 61 points achieved in the match; they were able to secure a berth in the final of the Women’s Doubles US Open 2011. They
will now be facing number three seeded Vania King with Yaroslava Shvedova in the final.
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