Knowle/Zelenay down Bednarek/Siljestrom to reach quarterfinal – Suisse Open Gstaad 2011
Unseeded in the tournament, the pair of Julian Knowle of Austria and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia stood victorious against the combination of Tomasz Bednarek of Poland and Andreas Siljestrom of Sweden in the opening round of Credit
Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad on Wednesday afternoon.
Being part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 clay-court swing, the competition was staged on the courts of the Credit Agricole Arena in Gstaad, Switzerland. The winning duo of Knowle and Zelenay wrapped
up victory in three sets, settling the final scores at 6-2, 4-6, 10-8, to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Suisse Open Gstaad.
Bednarek and Siljestrom competed very well in the contest but it was only the matter of time that their opponents clinched some crucial points in the last moments of the game to come out as the winners. Knowle and Zelenay took
one hour and twenty four minutes of play to settle the clash in the third set to move into the round of eight of the tournament.
A number of momentum swings were observed in the contest, with both teams labouring hard to get the better of each other. Knowle and Zelenay took the opener with the utmost ease and it appeared as if they are well on course to
a straight sets victory. Bednarek and Siljestrom made a strong comeback in the next set to bring the matchup on even terms but failed to sustain the winning momentum in the final set, losing the contest after a stiff competition.
Knowle and Zelenay took off the opening set with commanding aggression and raced to a 4-1 lead after stinging a serve break early. Bednarek and Siljestrom were led down in the opener by their error-ridden game, as they conceded
a number of unforced errors, including five costly double faults to assist their opponents to reach set point in the eighth game. Knowle and Zelenay clinched the first serve at 6-2 to get one up in the contest but Bednarek and Siljestrom proved equally good
in the following set to bounce back in the game.
Bednarek and Siljestrom cracked in two serve breaks to bag the second set at 6-4 but a vital mini-break in the decider closed out the contest in their opponents’ favour at 10-8. Knowle and Zelenay clinched victory in the third
set to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, where they will face either the fourth seeded team of Johan Brunstrom and Adil Shamasdin or the local wild card duo of George Bastl and Alexander Sadecky for a spot in the semis.
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