Kerr/ Martin edge past Sela/ Sijsling in the quarter-final of the Status Athens Open Doubles
Jordan Kerr of Australia teamed up with David Martin of the United States to beat the duo of Dudi Sela from Israel and Igor Sijsling of Netherlands in the quarter-final round of the doubles category of the Status Athens Opens at
Athens, Greece on Wednesday. The winning pair took 80 minutes to seal the contest in the third set 4-6, 6-4, 10-7, moving into the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour tournament.
It was an action-packed contest with the two teams putting up a good show for the local crowd at Athens. Kerr and Martin had a sloppy start to the match, dropping the opener early but made a terrific comeback in the next two sets
to reel victory. They kept the games short and professional, putting in a lot of effort to overwhelm their opponents.
After a flying start to the contest, Sela and Sijsling lost their steam in the later parts of the game and eventually had to submit the match to their opponents. Although they clinched more first serve points than their opponents
did, Sela and Sijsling ended the contest as the losers. A total of 125 points were played in the game with each team collecting almost half.
First serve accuracy for Kerr and Martin was 71 but they clinched 42 of 63 total serve points in the match, while breaking the opponent serve twice. They were outdone by the brilliance of Sela and Sijsling in the opening set but
made a magnificent comeback to turn the table on their rivals. Kerr and Martin developed excellent coordination among them, something they lacked in the first set, to reel of the second set and then the decider to take a semi-final berth.
Flawless and aggressive tennis from Sela and Sijsling put early pressure upon their opponents, who crumbled to submit the opening set at 4-6. Sela and Sijsling couldn’t hold the momentum they got from the first set and a sudden
downturn in their game was observed. They spilled out a series of unforced errors, including four double faults to allow Kerr and Martin take the second set at 6-4 and enforce the third.
Kerr and Martin cruised through the third set, bagging four straight points to finish the contest at 10-7 and step in the semis of the Status Athens Open. They will have to wait to know their semi-final opponent as the other quarter-final
between the German and Swiss duos is yet to be played. The German pair consists of Matthias Bachinger and Benjamin Becker, while the Swiss team comprises of Yves Allegro and Stephane Bohli, the winner of whom will face Kerr and Martin the semis.
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