Llodra and Zimonjic beat Mirnyi and Nestor in the quarterfinals of Mutua Madrid Open
French/Serbian pair of Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic rallied past Belarusian/Canadian pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 in the quarterfinals at the Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid on Friday. The
match lasted for an hour and 14 minutes.
Llodra and Zimonjic broke their opponents in the fifth game of the opening set, bagging it 6-4. The French/Serbian pair delivered three aces and committed one double fault in the first set. The sixth seeded team kept their first
serve percentage at 68 percent and captured a whopping 82 percent of the points on them in the first set. Llodra and Zimonjic grabbed 33 percent of the first service return points in the opening set. The French/Serbian duo converted one of the three break
points they received in the first set.
After losing the first set, Mirnyi and Nestor came back in the second set and broke the French/Serbian pair in the seventh game, consolidating on the single break of serve to claim the set 6-4.
Mirnyi and Nestor hit a single ace and 67 percent of the first serves in the second set. The Belarusian/Canadian pair won an incredible 89 percent of the first service points in the second set. In comparison, Llodra and Zimonjic
fired two aces and 71 percent of the first serves, winning 88 percent of the points on them in the second set. The French/Serbian pair had no answer to their opponent’s powerful serve as they could win just 11 percent of the first return points in the second
set. Llodra and Zimonjic failed to save the only break point they faced in the second set.
In the match tie-break, the French/Serbian duo claimed a couple of mini-breaks and won it 10-6. The world number 9 team delivered 75 percent of the first serves and clinched 83 percent of the points on them in the match tie-break.
While, Mirnyi and Nestor served poorly, hitting just 38 percent of the first serves and converting 33 percent of them into points in the match tie-break.
Llodra and Zimonjic are chasing their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title together. The French/Serbian pair prevailed over Brazilian team of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.
The Frenchman and Serb are slated to take on the Croatian pairing of Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic, placed at 71st spot in the South African Airways ATP Doubles Rankings, in the semi-finals. Cilic and Ljubicic beat South
African/Belgian duo of Wesley Moodie and d**k Norman in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals.
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