Qureshi/Hlavackova conquer Tomic/Jankovic in the second round – Australian Open 2012
Seventh seeded duo, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Andrea Hlavackova of Czech Republic, dumped the Aussie-Serb pair of Bernard Tomic and Jelena Jankovic in straight sets at the Australian Open 2012 on Monday. They registered a 6-3, 6-3 victory over their opponents to secure a third round spot at this first Grand Slam event taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
The Pakistani-Czech tandem confidently entered the Melbourne Park and earned a straight set victory in a 53 minute-long encounter. With their amazing collaboration, the pair broke their opponents’ serve three times and not only advanced into the third round but also inched closer to bag $135,500 prize money.
First time paired, Qureshi and Hlavackova, assertively entered the Margaret Court Arena and plucked in entire serves without facing any breakpoint. They converted two out of three break opportunities to their advantage and clinched the opener by winning six games to three in 24 minutes. The Pakistani-Czech team clobbered a slightly lower first serve share of 71 percent as compared to their rivals’ 76 percent but clicked spectacular 11 out of 12 points on it. They also hammered 12 winners and spilled fewer unforced errors.
The higher ranked pair kept momentum rolling into the following set and smoothly held entire serves after blocking the lone breakpoint they came across. Qureshi and Hlavackova capitalised on one out of three break opportunities and pocketed the set with a 6-3 win in just under half an hour. They again formulated a slightly lower first serve share and clinched an impressive 15 out of 18 points on it.
The high flying Pakistani-Czech collaboration will next face the winner of the match between the Japanese wild card entrants and the Italians, Roberta Vinci and Daniele Bracciali.
Qureshi’s ex-partner Rohan Bopanna of India will join him in the third round. He teamed up with American competitor, Lisa Raymond, to crush the local stars, Casey Dellacqua and Matthew Ebden, in straight sets to reach this spot.
The Indo American pair dusted away six out of seven breakpoints they came across and converted half of the eight break opportunities to their advantage, sealing the deal with a 6-4, 6-2 score line in 55 minutes.
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