Lopez/Nadal surprise Paes/Stepanek to advance to the semi-finals – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Spanish duo of Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal reached their third straight semi-final in Indian Wells, as they upset seventh seeds Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas
Open on Wednesday.
Both teams broke each other on a number of occasions in the first set. However, it was the Spanish pair which grabbed three of the four to capture it 6-3.
Lopez and Nadal put in 79 percent of the first serves, converting 14 of the 19 of them into points. The Spaniards were almost flawless on the second returns, losing only one of the seven points on them.
Paes/Stepanek and Lopez/Nadal exchanged a break of serve in the second set, equalising the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. The Spaniards grabbed one mini-break and capitalised on it to win 7-6(5).
Lopez and Nadal won most of the points on their second serve, winning an amazing nine out of 10. Paes and Stepanek hit four aces but they went in vain.
It took the Spaniards one hour and 43 minutes to undo the Australian Open champions.
The singles specialist, Nadal, plays almost five to six doubles events each year and BNP Paribas Open is always on the list. He partners his good friend Lopez in all of these events. Whenever these two come together, they upset
some of the top doubles specialist teams.
Lopez and Nadal shocked the then world number one team Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the final to claim the title here in 2010. The Spaniard duo was beaten by Olympic Champions, Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland,
in the semi-finals last year.
Earlier, Nadal got through to the quarterfinals of the singles event after beating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round.
Top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan have withdrawn from the tournament. The twins were scheduled to play Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland in the quarterfinals but they gave a walkover due to illness.
Lopez and Nadal will take on Fyrstenberg and Matkowski to book their place in the title match.
Tags: