Qureshi/Rojer overpower Marx/Shamasdin to reach the pre-quarters – Australian Open 2012
First time partners, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Jean-Julien Rojer of Curacao, fended off early resistance to dump the German–Canadian duo, Philipp Marx and Adil Shamasdin, in straight sets at the Australian Open 2012 on Saturday. They formulated 7-6(8), 6-4 victory over their opponents to advance into the third round at this first Grand Slam event held on the hard courts in Melbourne, Australia.
Eighth seeded tandem of Qureshi and Rojer stayed focused throughout the match to trounce the German–Canadian team in an hour and 35 minutes long duel. Battling each other for the first time, they not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against their opponents but also booked a spot in the third round.
The high flying duo assertively stepped on court number 18 at the Melbourne Park and easily swiped in entire serves without facing any hurdle. However, they failed to seek any break opportunity and dragged the set to a tie-breaker. Qureshi and Rojer dominated in it and bagged the opener with a 7-6(8) success.
The Pakistani-Dutch team improved their collaboration in the following set and drew the first blood in the opening game. Later, they held remaining serves and sealed the set by winning six games to four in 36 minutes.
Overall, the newly formed pair displayed exceptional skills and spilled no unforced errors. They clobbered a slightly lower first serve share of 69 percent as compared to their rivals’ 72 percent and clicked spectacular 38 out of 43 points on it.
The winning combination of Qureshi and Rojer made drastic start of 2012 as they were ousted in the opening round at the Brisbane International 2012. Adding further to their misery, the duo crashed out by the top seeded Americans, Bob and Mike Bryan, in the first round at the Apia International Sydney before entering this tournament.
Next challenge for the eighth seeded pair is the American - Brazilian tandem of Eric Butorac and Bruno Soares. They trashed Flavio Cipolla of Italy and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan with a 6-2, 6-3 score line to set-up this meeting.
Qureshi’s previous doubles partner, Rohan Bopanna, will join him in the third round. Bopanna paired up with his compatriot, Mahesh Bhupathi, and dumped the Aussie–Filipino team of Carsten Ball and Treat Conrad Huey in straight sets to reach this spot.
Dubbed the ‘Indo-Pak Express’, Qureshi and Bopanna team not only enjoyed their career best season last year but also brought the two rival nations together. They actively promoted the India Pakistan rapprochement and triumphed titles at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and Paris Masters 1000 event.
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