Qureshi/Rojer edge past Murray brothers to enter last eight – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
Pakistani-Dutch duo of Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer defeated Andy Murray and Jamie Murray of Great Britain 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 in the second round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in Spain on Thursday.
Seventh seeds, Qureshi and Rojer, took an hour and 46 minutes to win a marathon match.
The Pakistani-Dutch duo broke Murray brothers in the fourth game of the first set and consolidated on it to grab a 4-1 lead. Serving to stay in the set at 2-5, the Brits again dropped their serve and lost it 2-6.
Qureshi and Rojer hit 75 percent of the first serves and won 11 of the 18 points on them. The Pakistani-Dutch tandem did quite well on the second deliveries and returns, pocketing five of the six and 10 of the 14 points on them
respectively.
In the second set, both teams held their serve in the first four games, taking the score to 2-2. Qureshi/Rojer and Murrays swapped breaks in the following four to even it out at 4-4. The Brits hit a blow again in the 11th
game and served it out at 6-5.
Murray brothers banged in a single ace and committed the same number of double fault in the second set. They kept their first serve percentage at 74, clinching 17 of the 25 points on them. The Brits, however, could not perform
well on the second deliveries, losing eight of the nine points. Murrays converted three of the four break points they received and saved three of the five they faced.
The Pakistani-Dutch combination and Brits went neck to neck till 6-6 in the match tie-breaker but then Qureshi and Rojer captured four of the next six points, winning it 10-8.
Ranked 22nd in the world, Qureshi and Rojer put in 78 percent of the first serves and converted six of the seven of them into points. They bagged both points on the second deliveries and two of the four on second returns
in the match tie-breaker.
Pakistan’s national hero, Qureshi, who skipped his country’s Davis Cup tie against Philippines a couple of weeks back, has just recovered from his knee problems. He has failed to get good results on the ATP World Tour since splitting
with India’s Rohan Bopanna at the start of this season.
Qureshi and Rojer are slated to play fourth seeds, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland, in the quarter-final.
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