Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond cripple Benesova/Strycova to reach the title-round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Top seeds, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, crushed the Czech tandem of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova with a breadstick at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Friday night. They joggled up a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the Czechs to secure a place in the
final show down at this Premier Mandatory event taking place from 5th to 18th March.
The highest ranked junction of the tournament stayed on track to claim their fourth straight title together. The Americans were runner-up at the Apia International Sydney in January but went berserk in the following month as they conquered Paris, Doha and
Dubai WTA Premier-level events before entering this tournament. Huber and Raymond required 55 minutes to extend their winning streak to 15 matches in a row.
The American junction thundered into the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and despite losing their serve once, they cashed in half of the six break opportunities and pocketed the opener with a stunning 6-1 score line. They manifested an equal first serve share
of 63 per cent and superbly clinched 11 out of 15 points on it.
Huber and Raymond kept momentum floating into the follow-up set and pulled out the set in a similar way. They again gifted away their serve once and capitalised on three out of six break chances to formulate a 6-2 success. The Americans clobbered a lower
first serve share this time but took full advantage of the several unforced errors their opponents spilled.
Summing up the seeds’ performance, Huber and Raymond committed fewer errors and only two double faults. They manipulated a lower first serve share but capped the match by winning 55 points.
The American collaboration of Huber and Raymond fended off two match points against Marina Erakovic and Monica Niculescu in their second round match. After that, the winning pair rallied past the Australian-American pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Bethanie
Mattek-Sands in three sets to occupy this spot.
They will next confront the second seeds, Sania Mirza of India and Elena Vesnina of Russia. The Indo-Russian duo bounced over the third seeded Czechs, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, in a three set nail-biter to set-up this clash.
Mirza and Vesnina displayed their top class performance to stomp over the Czechs in 95 minutes. They blocked eight out of 13 breakpoints they faced and capitalised on five out of 17 break chances, ultimately sealing the deal with a 5-7, 7- 5, 10-3 score
line.
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