Lindstedt/Tecau prevail over Darcis/Rochus in the third round – Wimbledon Championships 2012
Fifth seeded Swedish-Romanian duo of Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau defeated Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus of Belgium in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(4) in the round of 16 of the Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday. They took
two hours and 11 minutes to get past their opponents and reach the last eight.
In the first set, both teams began by holding their opening serves to take the score to 1-1. Lindstedt and Tecau grabbed an early breakthrough in the third game and won their subsequent serve to gain a 3-1 advantage. They did not
allow Darcis and Rochus to make a comeback, maintaining lead till the end and closing it 6-4.
The Swedish-Romanian combination smacked a single ace and committed the same number of double fault. Their first serve conversion rate was superb, clinching 15 of the 17 points on them. Lindstedt and Tecau did not provide any break
opportunity to their opponents and availed one of the four they got in the opener.
Lindstedt/Tecau and Darcis/Rochus served quite well in the second set, as they did not drop their serve in the first 10 games to equalise the score at 5-5. The Swedish-Romanian tandem struck in the 11th and made the
most of it to win 7-5.
Ranked fourth in the world, Lindstedt and Tecau bombarded six aces on their opponents and did not make any double fault in the second set. They kept their first serve percentage on 79 and grabbed 22 of the 26 points on them. The
Swedish-Romanian pair gave a flawless performance on their ground strokes, as they banged in 10 winners and did not commit even a single unforced error.
Lindstedt/Tecau and Darcis/Rochus served even more brilliantly in the third set, as they won their serves till the end, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. The Swedish-Romanian tandem made an early mini-break
to go up 3-1. Hitting a couple of powerful volleys, they stretched their lead to 5-2. Darcis and Rochus won both points on their serve to reduce the deficit to 4-5 but Lindstedt and Tecau hit the final blow, grabbing last two points to grab it 7-6(4).
The Swedish-Romanian duo kept their upper hand with the help of their strong first deliveries, hitting three aces and pocketing amazingly 22 of the 24 points on them.
Lindstedt and Tecau are drawn to play the unseeded Italian-Austrian team of Daniele Bracciali and Julian Knowle in the quarter-finals.
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