Sanchez/Garrigues rally past Gajdosova/Stosur into the semi-finals – AEGON International 2011
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain fought back after the first set bashing to beat Jarmila Gajdosova and Samantha Stosur of Australia in three sets 1-6, 6-1, 10-4 in the quarterfinals of AEGON International
at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne on Friday. The Spaniards took 54 minutes to oust their opponents.
Gajdosova and Stosur thrashed Martinez Sanchez and Medina Garrigues in the opening set as they dropped only a single game, breaking the Spaniards twice and winning the set 6-1.
The Australians delivered one ace and 63 percent of the first serves, capturing 76 percent of the points on them in the first set. Gajdosova and Stosur troubled the Spaniards with their powerful service returns as they won 30 percent
of the first return points. The Australians amazingly succeeded in saving all the six break points they faced and won both break points they received on their opponents’ serve in the first set.
After getting thrashed in the opening set, Martinez Sanchez and Medina Garrigues made a strong comeback as they inflicted the same score line on their opponents in the second set. The Spaniards took the lead straightaway as they
broke Gajdosova and Stosur in the second game of the second set and held their serve in the next game to take a 3-0 lead. Martinez Sanchez and Medina Garrigues broke again in the sixth game and served out the set at 5-1.
The Spaniards served incredibly well as they fired an amazing 95 percent of the first serves, claiming 79 percent of the points on them in the second set. Martinez Sanchez and Medina Garrigues dominated in all aspects of the game
as they converted 50 percent of the first return points. The Spaniards capitalised on two of the three break point opportunities they created on Gajdosova and Stosur’s serve and saved the only break point they faced on their own serve in the second set.
Martinez Sanchez and Medina Garrigues crushed their opponents in the match tie-break as they allowed the Australians to win just four points, claiming three mini-breaks and grabbing it 10-4.
The Spaniards fired 86 percent of the first serves and bagged 67 percent of the points on them in the match tie-break. On the other hand, Gajdosova and Stosur managed to deliver just 29 percent of the first serves and failed to
convert any of them into a point. The Australians claimed one out of five second service points in the match tie-break. The unseeded pair converted 33 percent of the first returns into points in the match tie-break.
Martinez Sanchez and Medina Garrigues are drawn to meet top seeds Kveta Peschke of Czech Republic and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia in the semi-finals. The Czech/Slovakian pair defeated South African/Czech team of Natalie Grandin
and Vladimira Uhlirova in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
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