Vesnina/Paes bounce over the Italians to reach the final – Australian Open 2012: Tennis Special
Fifth seeded duo, Elena Vesnina of Russia and Leander Paes of India, made an epic comeback to halt the Italian team, Roberta Vinci and Daniele Bracciali, in a three set thriller at the Australian Open 2012 on Friday. They clobbered a 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 victory
over their opponents to book a spot in the title-round at the first Grand Slam taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
The Russian-Indian tandem sought the $135,500 track after losing the opening set and held their composure till the end. They took 85 minutes to overpower the Italians in their first meeting and comfortably advanced into the final round.
The unseeded Italians confidently stepped on court number three and held their opening serve with conviction. They failed to ward off the only breakpoint they faced but cashed in both break chances to seal the opener by winning seven games to five. Vinci
and Bracciali formulated a better first serve share and amazingly registered 17 out of 22 points on it.
Vesnina and Paes improved their co-ordination in the second set. They swiped in entire serves without facing any breakpoint and capitalised on two out of five break opportunities to bag the equaliser with a 6-2 win. The higher ranked pair spilled no unforced
errors and double faults, and tremendously marked 13 out of 16 points on their first serve share.
The fifth seeded pair kept their momentum into the super tie-breaker. They produced a lower first serve share but spectacularly clicked four out of five points on it. Vesnina and Paes then pocketed the decider with a 10-7 score line in 14 minutes.
Next up for Vesnina and Paes is the eighth seeded team, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau, who stunned the Indians, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi, in straight sets to book this final spot. The Russian-Indian team needs to clobber a better first serve
share in order to ease past the winning combination of Mattek-Sands and Tecau. They should also improve their defensive skills when they encounter any breakpoint and play their original game.
The Indian star, Paes, reached his second doubles final at the Melbourne Park. He teamed up with Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic and secured a final spot at the Men’s Doubles event on Thursday. The high flying Indo-Czech pair upset the second seeds, Max
Mirnyi of Belorussia and Daniel Nestor of Canada, in three sets to secure this spot. They will square off against the top ranked team at the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Doubles Rankings, Bob and Mike Bryan, in the final showdown.
Paes, India's only Olympic medal winner (1996, Atlanta) in tennis, gave full credit to both his partners. "Radek and Elena are fun to play with. They are very quick on their feet and though they may not have a lot of doubles experience, the best part is
that they are both willing to learn. In fact, I'm amazed with the amount Radek has picked up in the recent past. Elena is a strong baseline player, and though she may be a little bit weak on the net, she's fast improving."
"I'm glad that this year has begun so well for me. It's a very crucial year," Paes told MiD DAY over the phone last night. He is eying for the Olympic glory again at the Olympics events taking place in England this year.
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