Qureshi/Rojer breeze past Lipsky/Ram into the semi-finals – Open de Nice Côte d’Azur 2012
Pakistani tennis star, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, booked another date with the Bryan brothers, as he and his partner, Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands, thrashed Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram of USA in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the
quarter-finals of the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in France on Wednesday.
The Pakistani-Dutch duo required only an hour and two minutes to throw their American rivals out of the tournament.
When Qureshi and Rojer will face Bob and Mike Bryan in the semis, they will try to clinch back-to-back wins over the best ever team in the tennis history, as they had also beaten them in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open
earlier in this month.
Talking about their quarter-final match against Lipsky and Ram, both teams started by holding their serve in the opening two games to level the score at 1-1. Qureshi and Rojer grabbed breakthrough in the fourth and consolidated
on it to go up 4-1. They did not let their opponents to stage a comeback till the end, capturing it 6-3.
The Pakistani-Dutch tandem hit a single ace and equal number of double fault in the opener. They maintained a first serve percentage of 68 and bagged 14 of the 19 points on them. Ranked 12th in the world, Qureshi and
Rojer saved the only break point they faced and converted one of the five they received.
Carrying the winning momentum into the second set, Qureshi and Rojer got off to an ideal start, breaking their American opponents in the first and third game to take a 4-0 lead. The Pakistani-Dutch combination allowed Lipsky and
Ram to win just two games in the entire set, closing it 6-2.
Qureshi and Rojer neither delivered an ace nor made any double fault in the second set. The right-handers performed exceptionally well on their serves, putting in 78 percent of the first ones and sealing 12 of the 14 points on
them. They were flawless on the second deliveries, as they did not lose even a single point, claiming all four of them. Qureshi and Rojer did not provide the American pair any chance to break and availed both of their own.
The Pakistani-Dutch duo is aiming to win its second title of the season. They downed Julian Knowle and David Marrero to grab the Estoril Open crown.
Meanwhile, Bryans fought back from one set down to defeat Daniele Bracciali and Jamie Murray 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 in the quarter-finals.
Tags: