Llodra/Zimonjic, Bogomolov/Norman move to the next round – World Tennis Tournament 2012
Michael Llodra/Nenad Zimonjic beat Tomas Berdych/Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 3-6, 10-7
Second seeds, Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic, survived the scare in the second set to overpower the duo of Tomas Berdych and Lukasz Kubot of Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in the first round at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
in Rotterdam on Thursday. The match lasted for an hour and 12 minutes.
Both teams exchanged a break of serve in the first four games, levelling the score at 2-2. The French-Serbian team, Llodra and Zimonjic, gained the advantage again in the sixth game and consolidated on it to win 6-3.
Berdych and Kubot responded in style, breaking their opponents in the sixth game and never allowing them to stage a comeback. The Czech duo served out the set at 5-3.
Both teams went neck-to-neck in the first half of the match tie-break. However, the double specialists, Llodra and Zimonjic pressed the accelerator after that, as they snatched five of the last seven points to win 10-7.
Berdych and Kubot did everything right except their second serves. They converted just four of the eight of them into points and hit four double faults.
Llodra and Zimonjic will meet the Pakistani-Dutch duo of Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer in the quarterfinal draw.
Alex Bogomolov Jr./d**k Norman defeat Thiemo De Bakker/Robin Haase 6-7(2), 6-1, 10-7
Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia and d**k Norman of Belgium edged past the Dutch combination of Thiemo De Bakker and Robin Haase 6-7(2), 6-1, 10-7 to qualify for the semi-finals. They took just an hour and 22 minutes to beat De Bakker
and Robin Haase.
De Bakker and Haase struck the initial blow, as they took an early advantage and went up 4-1 in the first set. Bogomolov Jr. and Norman fought back to take it to a tie-break. De Bakker and Haase were too good for their opponents,
winning it 7-2.
Bogomolov and Norman looked completely different players after losing the opener. They were almost flawless in the second set, dropping only one game and breaking De Bakker and Haase twice to grab it 6-1.
With the winning momentum on their side, Bogomolov and Norman managed to clinch a late mini-break in the match tie-break and sealed it 10-7.
The Russian-Belgian team grabbed 75 percent of the first serve and 76 percent of the second return points. The unseeded team converted three of the eight break chances they received in the match.
It is pertinent to note that Bogomolov Jr. and Norman upset the fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India in the first round.
Bogomolov and Norman will face the winner of the match between Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi/Jean-Julien Rojer and Michael Llodra/Nenad Zimonjic in the semi-finals.
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