Knowles/Malisse, Lu/Moser advance to the semi-finals – Farmers Classic 2011
Knowles/Malisse beat Bellucci/Falla 6-3, 6-2
Bahamian/Belgian combination of Mark Knowles and Xavier Malisse dismissed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil and Alejandro Falla of Colombia in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles on Thursday.
The match lasted for an hour and three minutes.
Knowles and Malisse broke the Brazilian/Colombian pair in the fourth game of the first set and held their next service game to take a 4-1 lead. The Bahamian/Belgian team capitalised on the single break of serve to claim the set
6-3. The third seeds saved all the four break points they faced and converted one of the two break points they received on Bellucci and Falla’s serve in the first set.
With winning momentum on their side, Knowles and Malisse broke their opponents twice in the second set, clinching it 6-2. The Bahamian/Belgian pair smacked 65 percent of the first serves and grabbed 73 percent of the points on
them in the second set. They captured most of the points on the second serve and first return, sealing 63 percent and 53 percent of the points on them respectively.
Knowles and Malisse will meet Yen-Hsun Lu and Frank Moser in the last four.
Lu/Moser defeat Berrer/Haas 6-4, 6-4
Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei and Frank Moser of Germany prevailed over Germans Michael Berrer and Tommy Haas in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last four.
Lu and Moser drew the first blood as they broke the German team in the first game of the opening set and held their serve in the next game to take a 2-0 lead. Berrer and Hass broke back in the eighth game to tie the score at 4-4.
The Taiwanese/German pair broke again in the ninth game and served out the set at 5-4.
Fighting back in the second set, the German pair took an early lead, breaking Lu and Moser in the second game to build a 2-0 lead. However, they were broken immediately and also lost the next game to equalise the score at 2-2.
Lu and Moser bagged the decisive break of serve in the seventh game and capitalised on it to win the set 6-4. The Taiwanese/German combination sealed fifteen of the 21 first service points and eight of the twenty first return points in the second set. Lu and
Moser managed to save two of the three break points they received on their own serve and converted two of the four break points on the German pair’s serve in the second set.
The Taiwanese/German duo took an hour and ten minutes to undo their opponents.
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