Qureshi/Rojer conquer Knowle/Marrero to lift the Estoril Open title – Tennis Special
Top seeded duo, Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Netherlands’ Jean-Julien Rojer, toppled the Austrian-Spanish pair, Julian Knowle and David Marrero, in straight sets at the Estoril Open 2012 on Sunday. They jolted down a 7-5, 7-5 victory against the fourth seeds to grab their first title together at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event held in Estoril, Portugal.
The Pakistani-Dutch junction proved their class at this clay court event and after ruling at this one hour and 38-minute battle, they clinched the trophy. Qureshi and Rojer were broken down twice but cashed in four out of six break opportunities to grab the title.
"It is a great feeling to win our first title together," said the Jubilant Pakistani. "We never gave up, always believed in each other and our ability. It's been a tough week. We had a few tough matches and we had a little more pressure with Jules having won it last year."
Rojer was quoted later, "It's a good week for both of us. Some would say a much-needed title, but hopefully there will be more to come. We look forward to Madrid and Rome. This is a good build-up for those."
Qureshi and Rojer made a sloppy start at the Estoril Court Central and suffered the first blow in the third game to trail at 1-2. However, they remained on the right path and snatched their break back in the eighth game. The Pakistan-Dutch team swiped in their remaining serves and got the breakthrough in the last game, ultimately bagging the decider with a 7-5 win.
Ranked 17th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings, Qureshi and Rojer swayed from the track again in the follow-up set and gifted away their opening serve to fall at 0-2. However, they recovered in the eighth game and claimed the victory with a 7-5 score line after cashing in another break opportunity in the last game.
Summing up the highest ranked team’s performance at this battle, Qureshi and Rojer spilled five double faults and produced a lower first serve share of 63 per cent as compared to their opponents’ 69 per cent. However, they spectacularly marked 33 out of 44 points on it and sealed the deal with 71 points.
The top seeds rallied past the local wild card entrants, Gastao Elias and Joao Sousa, in their opening round match. They then bounced back after losing the opening set to overpower the Filipino-British collaboration of Treat Conrad Huey and Dominic Inglot in the quarter-finals. Later, Qureshi and Rojer crushed Frenchmen, Richard Gasquet and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, with a breadstick to power into the title-round.
The Pakistani-Dutch tandem will next compete at the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event held in Spain. They need to maintain their intensity in order to outsmart the top notch teams at this upcoming blue clay court event.
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