Llodra/ Zimonjic oust Anderson/ Hanley in the first round – Legg Mason Tennis Classic 2011
Third seeds, French Michael Llodra and Serb Nenad Zimonjic made a comeback victory against the South African Australian duo of Kevin Anderson and Paul Hanley in brutal three sets at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, an ATP World Tour
500 series event held in Washington D.C., United States. They registered a 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-8 victory over their rivals to advance into the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The winning combination of Llodra and Zimonjic pulled out a victory from troublesome three sets at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, D.C. It took one hour and fifty-one minutes for the seeds to triumph over
Anderson and Hanley on their first meeting.
The unseeded tandem of Anderson and Haley made a nervy start of the opening set and lost their serve in the very first game. However, they snatched the break back in the sixth game and held remaining serves to extend the set to
a tie-breaker. The pair dominated in it to clinch the opener with a 7-6(5) win. They clobbered a much higher first serve share of 73 percent as opposed to their opponents’ 49 percent and earned a plausible 72 percent win on it. The South African Australian
team saved two out of three breakpoints faced and capitalised on two out of three breakpoint chances to his advantage.
Ranked 3rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings, the French Serb duo re-focused in the second set. They fended off the only breakpoint conceded and capitalised on one out of four breakpoint opportunities
to his advantage in the last game and bagged the equaliser by winning seven games to five. Llodra and Zimonjic produced an equal first serve share of 52 percent and earned a spectacular 93 percent win on it.
Llodra and Zimonjic carried their momentum in the super tie-breaker. They clobbered a lower first serve share of 67 percent as compared to their rivals’ 78 percent but registered a magnificent 83 percent win on it. The French Serb
tandem then prevailed in the end to clinch the decider with a 10-8 victory.
They will next face the winner of the match between American wild card entrants, James Blake and John Isner, and Poles, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.
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