Mirnyi/Nestor edge past Naso/Volandri into the last eight – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Newly crowned world number one team, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor, fought back after getting surprised in the second set to defeat Italian wild card entrants, Gianluca Naso and Filippo Volandri, 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in the second round
at the Internazionali in Rome, Italy on Thursday.
Mirnyi and Nestor hit a blow in the second game of the opening set, taking a 2-0 lead. The Italians broke back immediately and held their next serve to square off the score at 2-2. The Belarusian-Canadian duo struck again in the
eight and served it out at 5-3.
The top seeds, Mirnyi and Nestor, banged in two aces and equal number of double faults in the opening set. They succeeded in delivering just 46 percent of the first serves but managed to convert 11 of the 13 of them into points.
The Belarusian-Canadian combination troubled their Italian rivals with the help of aggressive returns, pocketing seven of the 12 first and four of the eight second reply points.
Backed by the support of their home crowd, Naso and Volandri made a solid start in the second set, snatching opening three games to secure a 3-0 lead. The Italians sustained their advantage till the end, sealing it 6-3.
Naso and Volandri did not hit any ace and committed one double fault in the second set. They maintained a first serve percentage of 73 and clinched 15 of the 19 points on them. In comparison, Mirnyi and Nestor smacked one ace but
also committed a double fault, firing 67 percent of the first deliveries and converting 11 of the 14 of them into points.
After the score getting tied at one set each, the contest went into a match tie-breaker. Both teams went at par in the first 12 points and levelled the score at 6-6. The top ranked team, Mirnyi and Nestor, then showed their high
class, as they grabbed four of the next five and won it 10-7.
The Belarusian-Canadian tandem lost only one point on their serves, claiming five of the six first and all three of the second deliveries. The right and left hand combination also bagged two of the six points on the second returns
in the match tie-breaker.
Mirnyi and Nestor took just one hour and 17 minutes to outmuscle their opponents.
The Belarusian-Canadian duo will face seventh seeds, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, for a place in the last four.
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