Paes/Stepanek stun Butorac/Soares to reach the doubles semi-finals – Australian Open 2012
Unseeded Indian-Czech combination of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek put up another stunning performance to dispose of the 10th seed duo of Eric Butorac of the United States and Bruno Soares in the quarter-final of the
Grand Slam Down Under. Paes and Stepanek took one hour and 39 minutes of play to register their emphatic straight sets victory at 6-4, 7-6(4), marching on to the semi-final of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
It was a typical men’s doubles matchup, with shorter rallies and lightening fast game play throughout. Butorac and Soares posed an ordinary performance in the opening set to let early momentum to their opponents. By the time the
10th seed duo got its eye in the game, Paes and Stepanek had already pocketed the first set to get the upper hand in the match. The American-Brazilian pair took the second set to the wire but a smart play from Paes and Stepanek outplayed them in
the tie-breaker round.
Paes and Stepanek secured 35 out of 51 first serve points and broke their opponents twice in the matchup to come out as the surprise winners. They both kept the unforced errors to the minimum and cashed in most of their opportunities
in time to kept momentum rolling in the match.
A steady start in the first set witnessed both duos holding on to their serve for the opening eight games and scores were pushed to 4-4. Paes and Stepanek finally made the aggressive move and nailed the first serve break of the
day in the ninth game to lead 5-4. The unseeded pair had no difficulty in serving out of the first set at 6-4 to get one up in the contest.
A more competitive second set was played between the two teams. Butorac and Soares dropped their serve again in the fifth game but came up with a fitting reply in the very next game, breaking their opponents’ serve to bring the
match back on even terms. A tie-breaker round came into play when the scores were deadlocked at 6-6 but it was the brilliance of Paes and Stepanek which prevailed in the decider to bestow victory upon them at 7-6(4).
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