Lindstedt/Tecau edge past Fyrstenberg/Matkowski into last four – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Fourth seeds, Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau, bounced back after getting crushed in the second set to outlast Polish duo of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, seeded sixth at the event, 6-2, 1-6, 12-10 in the quarter-final
at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy on Friday. The Swedish-Romanian combination took just one hour and 22 minutes to complete their hard fought win.
Lindstedt and Tecau made the best possible start, breaking the Poles in the first and third game to build a 4-0 lead. The Swedish-Romanian duo capitalised on the double advantage, sealing it 6-2.
Ranked fifth in the world, Lindstedt and Tecau fired two aces and 70 percent of the first serves. They had an above par conversion rate, securing 12 of the 14 first and four of the six second delivery points. The Swedish-Romanian
tandem was near error free on the second returns, converting seven of the nine of them into points. Lindstedt and Tecau did not give their opponents any chance to break and availed both of their own in the opener.
The second set saw a more stable start compared to the first, as both teams held serve in the first three games to take the score to 2-1 in favour of Fyrstenberg and Matkowski. The Polish pair did not lose even a single game afterwards,
snatching breaks in the fourth and sixth game, consolidating on them to win 6-1.
Fyrstenberg and Matkowski banged in three aces and committed only one double fault in the second set. On the other hand, Lindstedt and Tecau hit only one ace and made three double faults. The Swedish-Romanian pair fared poorly
on the second serves, losing seven of the 11 points on them. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski put away both break threats they came across and utilised two of the four opportunities they created.
In the match tie-breaker, Lindstedt and Tecau started with a 5-2 lead but the Poles bounced back to level the score at 8-8. They went neck to neck till 10-10 but then the Swedish-Romanian combination grabbed two consecutive points,
winning it 12-10.
Lindstedt and Tecau smacked one ace and did not commit any double fault in the match tie-breaker. The Swedish-Romanian duo kept their first serve percentage at 55 and pocketed five of the six points on them. In comparison, Fyrstenberg
and Matkowski managed to hit just 36 percent of the first deliveries and claimed just two of the four points.
The Swedish-Romanian tandem took its revenge, as it had lost to the Polish pair in the Mutua Madrid Open final last week.
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