Aisam Ul Haq and partner gives tough time to world#1 Team in Italian Open
The world # 1 and top seeded pair of Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo defeated Asaim & Santiago duo in a tough fight by 7-6, 6-7, 10-2 in the pre-quarterfinal of Italia open in the 2 hours 13 minutes battle.
Aisam & Santiago started the match on a positive note as they easily held their opening serve and gave hard time to the world #1 team of Lukasz & Marcelo in the next game where they earned 3 break points but could not convert any. PAK-Mexican pair struggled a bit in the fifth game as they saved a break point to make it 3-2. On the 3rd Kubot / Melo serve, Aisam & Santiago cruised to 0:40 to earn 3 break points and won it on the 3rd break point. The stage was all set at 4-2 for Aisam/ Gonzalez but the break-advantage was soon lost as the worlds’ top doubles pair broke back in the very next game and leveling it again at 4-4 on their serve. Keeping up with the momentum in their favor, Lukasz & Marcelo earned a break point in the 9th game but could not make much of it, as the set went into a tie-break. Serving first in the tiebreak, Asaim & Santiago again took a shiny start with an early 2-0 lead but Lukasz & Marcelo came back strongly with 5 consecutive point as they broke the 4th and 5th serves to make it 5-2 for a firm grip over the set. Aisam-Santiago held their serves under press to reduce the lead to 5-4, but the top seeded pair earned the first set point on their serve at 6-4 and sealed it there in the hour long set at 7-6(4).
In the second set, both the pairs played marvelously and offered no opportunities and held their serves comfortably as the set leveled at 6-6 for a second Tie-breaker of the match. Serving second, Aisam & Santiago gave hard time to Lukasz &Marcelo pair as they breezed to 1-4 while wining the 1st and 3rd serve of Lukasz & Marcelo. Aisam & partner earned the set point at 4-6 on their serve but lost the opportunity as the service changed hands at 5-6. Still at Set Point, the duo fought hard and broke the serve of top seeds to win the set by 6-7(5) in 1 hour and 1 minute.
The Super Set was a one sided affair as Aisam & Santiago lost their first-3 serves and Lukasz & Marcelo took full control at 5-0. A couple of points later the score was 7-2. The world #1 pair cruised to victory from there without conceding a point and winning the Super set at 10-2 the set by 10-2 in 14 minutes.
The world # 1 pair of Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo defeated Asaim & Santiago duo in a tough fight with a final score of 7-6, 6-7, 10-2 in the pre-quarterfinal of Italia open in the 2 hours 13 minutes battle.
