Mirnyi/Nestor beat Troicki/Wawrinka to reach the doubles semis – Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
In the quarter-final round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, the second seeded Belarusian-Canadian duo of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor stood victorious on Friday. They edged past the Serbian-Swiss combination of Viktor Troicki
and Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, to earn a place in the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Association) Masters Series clay court event.
The local crowd at Monte Carlo, Monaco, witnessed another brilliant display of amazing coordination and patience from the number two seed team. Mirnyi and Nestor faced a decent resistance from their veteran opponents but remained
calm throughout the contest to bag the all-crucial points. They cruised through the opening set with ease but a late comeback from the unseeded duo in the following set made the contest a bit thrilling for the spectators. Troicki and Wawrinka stretched the
second seeds to their limits in the second set but couldn’t drag the match into a tie-breaker round, eventually submitting in straight sets to fall out of the tournament.
Mirnyi and Nestor belted 64 per cent of their first serve on target and lost just five points on it, pocketing 31 out of 36 to come out as the winners. They converted three of their seven break chances and suffered merely one out
of three from their unseeded opponents in the match. Troicki and Wawrinka squandered away some vital opportunities in the contest and were often found struggling with their shot placement, eventually finishing on the losing side.
Mirnyi and Nestor will face the third seed French-Serb combination of Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic for earning a title shot at the Monte Carlo Masters. The third seeds faced no difficulty in disposing of the Austrian duo of
Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarter-final round on Friday, booking a date with Mirnyi and Nestor in the semis.
The top Americans, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, also won their quarter-final clash against the winners of this year’s Australian Open doubles title, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek. Spanish pair of Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez
are the other semi-finalists in the Monte Carlo Rolex masters.
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