Melo/Soares overwhelm Chela/Sa in doubles quarter-final – If Stockholm Open 2011
World number 10 duo of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares from Brazil registered a comprehensive victory over the Argentine-Brazilian combination of Juan Ignacio Chela and Andre Sa in the quarter-final of the If Stockholm Open on Friday
evening.
Seeded at number four in the tournament, Melo and Soares displayed their belligerence once again to outplay their opponents in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, in merely 65 minutes of play to earn a place in the semi-finals of the ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The Brazilian duo registered its 27th victory of the running season and the first one against Chela and Sa in an assertive manner. Melo and Soares have already bagged two doubles championship titles this year and are
looking very strong for another one in Stockholm.
The contest appeared fairly one-sided throughout, with the Brazilians dominating the game for most of the time. Melo and Soares cruised through both sets with ease, keeping the games short and professional to drive their opponents
out of the competition. The fourth seeded duo reeled off 28 out of 38 first serve points in the matchup to get the better of Chela and Sa, who secured merely 14 points to finish on the losing side in the end.
Chela and Soares crafted a total of eight break opportunities in contest but managed to convert just one of them, while suffering three crushing serve breaks from their opponents to let them away with victory. Melo and Soares registered
their first serve break of the day in the second game of the match to take a 3-0 lead early. The unseeded pair failed to recover from the early damage done the serve break and eventually submitted the first set at 3-6.
Melo and Soares broke for the second time in the third game of the next set but Chela and Sa retaliated this time with a break point in the fifth. The Brazilian pair delivered a decisive blow in the sixth game to break into a 5-3
lead and then served out of the competition at 6-4, to move into the semi-finals.
Melo and Soares will meet the second seeded duo of Eric Butorac of the United Sates and Jean-Julien Rojer of Curacao in the semis to earn a title shot in the final of the If Stockholm Open. The second seeded pair registered a straight
sets win, 6-3, 6-4, over the combination of Xavier Malisse from Belgium and Frank Moser of Germany in the quarter-final rounds.
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