Paes/Stepanek surprise Bryans to enter the final – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Seventh seeds, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, reached their second title match of the season, as the Indian-Czech pair outplayed the top seeded team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in twin sets 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals at the
Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Thursday.
Bryans had a chance to take revenge from their opponents, as they had lost to this duo in the Australian Open final earlier this year.
However, after inflicting back to back blows to the most successful team in the history of the sport, Paes and Stepanek have proved that they have become the latest power house in doubles category.
The Indian-Czech team and Bryans started the match in a steady manner, as they held their serve in the first eight games of the opening set to take the score to 4-4. Paes and Stepanek took charge to claim two consecutive games
after that, closing it 6-4.
The right-handers neither hit any ace nor any double fault in the opener. They had an extraordinary first serve conversion rate, winning 14 of the 16 points. Bryan brothers were not up to the standard on their second deliveries,
committing a couple of double faults and losing four of the five points on them.
Paes/Stepanek and Bryans swapped a break of serve in the first four games of the second set and evened out the score at 2-2. The Indian-Czech duo struck again in the seventh game and kept the advantage till the end to win it 6-4.
Paes and Stepanek had a batter conversion rate on their second serve than the first, securing five of the seven and 11 of the 17 points on them respectively. On the other hand, Bryans continued to be lethargic on their serve, as
they grabbed just 12 of the 23 first and five of the 11 second delivery points.
Paes is aiming to complete hat-trick at the Sony Ericsson Open. He won the title with compatriot, Bhupathi, last year and teamed with Lukas Dlouhy to become champion in 2010.
The Indian-Czech combination is pitted against second seeds, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor, in the title match. The Belarusian-Canadian duo bulldozed Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-final.
This will be their second meeting this season. Paes and Stepanek bounced back from a deficit of one set to beat Mirnyi and Nestor in the semi-final at the Australian Open.
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