Qureshi/Rojer halt Harrison Brothers to cruise into semis – US Open 2012
Pakistani-Dutch tandem, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, ended dream run of the local wild card entrants, Ryan and Christian Harrison, by recording a straight set victory on Wednesday. They clobbered a 6-2, 6-3 victory against the American brothers
to power into the semi-finals at the US Open 2012, a major hard court event taking place in Queens, New York City.
Seeded ninth in this tournament, Qureshi and Rojer showed exceptional skills to outsmart the wild card recipients who stunned fourth seeded Poles, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, in their opening fixture. The Harrison Brothers also upset the Israeli
stars, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, and the 14th seeded British junction, Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins, en route to quarters at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The Pakistani-Dutch duo entered the Grandstand Stadium in high spirits. They amazingly brushed off both breakpoints they came across to keep their entire serves. Qureshi and Rojer capitalised on two out of four break chances and clinched the opener with
a 6-2 score line in almost half hour-long venture before the rain delayed the match.
Paired up in the start of the season, Qureshi and Rojer kept momentum rolling towards the second set which resumed the next day. They showed brilliant defensive skills and despite facing five breakpoints, the Pakistani-Dutch junction kept their entire serves.
They got the breakthrough in the eighth game and subsequently clicked the set with a 6-3 win in three quarters of an hour.
The high flying Pakistani-Dutch collaboration made a semi-final showing at the Roland Garros earlier this season. In addition to this, Qureshi secured a title-round berth at the Flushing Meadows with India’s Rohan Bopanna two years ago.
Next challenge for Qureshi and Rojer are the American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who are bidding for their fourth title at this last Grand Slam event of the season. The second seeded Bryans edged past the French duo, Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, in
straight sets to set up this duel.
The fifth seeds, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, will join the Pakistani-Dutch pair in the final four. They registered a 6-2, 6-4 success in one hour and 14 minutes to progress.
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