Scott Lipsky/Rajeev Ram defeat Jamie Murray/Ken Skupski for doubles semi-final place at Delray Beach
American pair of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram defeated the British duo of Jamie Murray and Ken Skupski in the quarter-final of the doubles category at the Delray Beach International Championships on Thursday night. The Americans outplayed their opponents
in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3 to qualify for the semi-final of the tournament.
It took a mere 77 minutes for Lipsky and Ram to oust the British competitors, as they had to fight hard to take the first set, but their rivals surrendered the second set to them comprehensively.
The Britons had a better first serve percentage from their opponents, reaching 68 per cent. Murray and Skupski had a solid defence, but their opponents penetrated through it with their combined efforts.
Murray and Skupski proved to be better players in some segments of the game, as they saved four serve break opportunities whereas their opponents failed to save any of such chances. The Britons bagged a serve break in the first round and then avoided another
in the rest of the match.
Lipsky and Ram displayed an excellent combination of their games and supported each other with their individual performances. The chemistry between the two winners worked perfectly, as they outplayed their opponents in a fairly biased contest.
Although Lipsky and Ram had a first serve percentage of 61 in the opening set, the pair still secured 18 of the 22 first serve points, along with two aces in the set. Their British opponents had a slightly better serve percentage of 64, but they spilled
out many serve break chances as well.
The American team got a total of five opportunities to break the opposite serve, but they only managed to convert one out of it. Murray and Skupski also cashed in their only break chance of the match in the first set and brought the opener on even terms.
A decisive tie breaker had to be enforced in the first set after the scores tied at 6-6. The American pair proved its mental steel under pressure and reeled off three straight points in the tie breaker to reach the set point at 6-3. Lipsky and Ram clinched
the first set tie breaker to lead the contest with one set to none.
The second set of the match was not as competitive for the American team as was the first one. Despite a drastic fall in their first serve percentage of 46 per cent in the second set, Lipsky and Ram won 20 of the total 28 serve points in the set. They nabbed
a serve break point without losing their own serve in the set. A single break point proved sufficient for the Americans as they closed the contest with an assertive score of 6-3.
Lipsky and Ram will be taking on the winners of the other quarter-final, which will feature the Aussie pair of Ashley Fisher and Stephen Huss facing off against the team of Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer.
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