Qureshi/Rojer trounce Ljubicic/Stebe in the opening round – Australian Open 2012
Eighth seeded duo, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Jean-Julien Rojer of Curacao, dumped the Croat-German duo of Ivan Ljubicic and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in straight sets at the Australian Open 2012 on Wednesday. They registered a 6-3, 7-6(11) success over their opponents to advance into the second round of this Grand Slam event taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
The Pakistani-Curacao tandem warded off late resistance to trash their unseeded rivals, Ljubicic and Stebe, in straight sets in almost one and half hour long duel. They not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against their rivals but also moved one step closer to lift their maiden title together.
Qureshi and Rojer confidently stepped on court number 19 at the Melbourne Park and held their serve in the opening game. They maintained consistency in their game and bagged remaining serves without facing any breakpoint. Later, the pair capitalised on one out of two break chances in the fourth game and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Teamed up at the start of the season, the Pakistani Curacao duo earned the coveted break in the opening game and took the initial lead. Regardless of squaring the scores at 2-2, they held remaining serves and dragged the set to a tie-breaker. The pair edged over Ljubicic and Stebe in the end and pocketed the set with a 7-6(11) victory.
The high flying collaboration of Qureshi and Rojer manipulated a better first serve share of 77 percent as compared to their opponents’ 59 percent. They also registered superb 40 out of 53 points on it and smacked four winners to prevail.
Up next for the seeded pair is the German Canadian team, Philipp Marx and Adil Shamasdin, who dumped the Brazilian duo, Thomaz Bellucci and Marcelo Melo, in straight sets to set-up this meeting.
Top seeded Americans, Bob and Mike Bryan, will join the Pakistani Curacao junction in the second round. They warded off early resistance to earn a straight set victory over the Israelis, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, to reach this spot.
Bryan Brothers exchanged a break in the opening set and dragged it to a tie-breaker. They prevailed in it and subsequently clinched the opener with a 7- 6(6) score line.
Ranked 1st in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Doubles Rankings, Bryans cashed in the only break opportunity in the following set and pulled out the victory with a 6-4 score line.
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