Kravchuk/Molchanov oust Gerasimov/Krotiouk to enter quarters – Siberia Cup 2012 CH
Top seeds, Russia’s Konstantin Kravchuk and Ukraine’s Denys Molchanov, dumped the Belarusian-Russian tandem, Egor Gerasimov and Sergei Krotiouk, in straight sets at the Siberia Cup 2012 on Tuesday. They nudged up a 6-2, 6-4 victory against their rivals to reach the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place from 19th to 25th November in Tyumen, Russia.
The highest ranked tandem, Kravchuk and Molchanov, showed brilliant co-ordination and co-operation to outrun their opponents in their first encounter. After earning the fame in one hour and seven minutes, the Russian-Ukrainian pair secured a spot in the last eight.
Kravchuk and Molchanov made a comfortable entry at this indoor hard court tournament. After the unseeded pair held their serve in the third game, the Russian-Ukrainian junction unleashed their true form and went on a five-game tear. They were never challenged with any hindrance and converted two out of four break chances to their advantage, subsequently carving out a 6-2 win.
The-Russian-Ukrainian tandem kept momentum rolling in the following set. They got the critical break in third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. Kravchuk and Molchanov held their composure and smoothly swiped their remaining serves, eventually sealing the opener by winning six games to four. They again plucked their entire serves without facing any barrier and capitalised on one out of four break chances to prevail.
On the whole, Kravchuk and Molchanov hammered 11 aces and despite producing a lower first serve share of 57 per cent as compared to their rivals’ 63 per cent, they brilliantly marked 23 out of 25 points on it.
Up next for the seeds is the Russian-French pair, Andrey Kumantsov and Josselin Ouanna. Kumantsov and Ouanna dumped the local wild card entrants, Alexandre Krasnoroutsky and Anton Menegin, in straight sets to advance.
The Slovakian-Swedish pair, Ivo Klec and Andreas Siljestrom, will join the top seeds in the final eight. They dumped the local wild card entrants, Vladislav Dubinsky and Alexander Lobkov, in straight sets to progress. They lost their serve once but cashed three out of 14 break chances to formulate a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory.
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