Paes/Stepanek topple Lopez/Granollers to reach the final – US Open 2012
Indian-Czech duo of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek are just one step away of winning their second Grand Slam of the season, as they ousted Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers of Spain in the semi-finals of the US Open at the Flushing
Meadows in New York on Thursday.
Although, Paes and Stepanek would not have wanted to have an end to this semi-finals clash like this, as they reached the title match when Lopez was forced to retire from the contest in the first set with a left calf injury.
The Indian-Czech tandem came together at the start of this season and made a successful start to their partnership by beating Bryan brothers in the final to win the Australian Open.
Coming back to the latest match, both teams started by comfortably holding their opening serves to equalise the score at 1-1. Paes and Granollers hit a blow to the Spaniards in the third game and consolidated on it to gain a 3-1
lead. However, Lopez and Granollers broke back in the eighth to even out the score at 4-4. The following four games went with serve to square off the proceedings at 6-6 and take the set to a tie-breaker. However, Lopez called a physiotherapist at that moment,
as he was feeling severe pain in his left calf. The Spanish player’s condition did not improve and he decided to quit the match.
Talking to the reporters at the end of the match, Paes said, "I feel sorry for Marc. We all come here to entertain you and they are great guys. I have a great partner. He really pushed me today and pulled the whip out, which is
probably what I needed. We are looking forward to the final."
Paes and Stepanek will lock horns with the second seeds, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, in the title match.
The Indian-Czech duo has made a plan to dismantle the most successful doubles team in the history of the sport. They said, “We’ve got some things planned. It’s not about disrupting their timing or rhythm, or anything, it’s about
doing certain things to combat their strengths.”
Bryans are not sitting idle either, as they also have a different strategy than the latest match. Mike shared, “It’s all about throwing in a new game plan, a new wrinkle to throw them off. We’ll play the match tomorrow differently
than we played today.”
The American twins are looking to capture their fourth US Open and overall 12th Grand Slam title.
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