Qureshi-Rojer stun Mirnyi/Nestor to reach semis – BNP Paribas Masters 2012
Pakistani-Dutch duo, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, upset the second seeds, Belarus’ Max Mirnyi and Canada’s Daniel Nestor, in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Masters 2012 on Friday. They juggled up a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the higher seeds
to power into the semi-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event held in Paris Bercy.
Seeded seventh in this event, Qureshi and Rojer displayed perfect co-ordination and co-operation to outshine the Belarusian-Canadian junction in their first encounter. After recording the victory in one hour and 15 minutes, the Pakistani-Dutch pair comfortably
secured a place in the final four at this indoor hard court event.
The Pakistani-Dutch collaboration assertively entered the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. They smoothly held their entire serves and required a single break of serve to pull out the opener with a 6-3 score line. Qureshi and Rojer were never threatened
with any barrier and converted one out of four break chances to his advantage.
Ranked sixth in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings, Qureshi and Rojer maintained consistency in their game in the following set. They kept their serve with poise and with a single break of serve, the Pakistani-Dutch team sealed the
set by winning six games to four. They blocked the only breakpoint they came across and cashed one out of three break chances to steal the limelight.
On the whole, the Pakistani-Dutch duo spilled more double faults and manifested a slightly lower first serve share of 62 per cent as compared to the higher ranked team’s 63 per cent. However, they impressively marked 29 out of 34 points on it and struck
six aces to prevail.
Qureshi and Rojer will lock horns with the Croatian-Brazilian duo, Marin Cilic and Marcelo Melo, who upset eighth seeds, Austria’s Alexander Peya and Brazil’s Bruno Soares, in a three-set thriller to set up this battle.
The fifth seeded Indian junction, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, will accompany the Pakistani-Dutch tandem in the final four. They bounced over the fourth seeded Poles, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, in a three-set mouth-watering battle to
progress at this event.
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