ATP Tour Finals: Paes-Stepanek go into semis unbeaten
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek will go into the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finale as the unbeaten team as they pipped the top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in their last Group A match, here on Saturday.
Third seeds Paes and Stepanek held their nerves to beat three-time champions 6-4 6-7(6) 10-7 in one hour and 45 minutes.
Now Bryans would be praying that seventh seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer beat fifth seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, so that they move to the next stage.
Paes and Stepanek broke both Mike and Bob to 30 in the third and fifth games, respectively, to take a 4-1 lead.
Stepanek committed a double fault to lose his service game but closed out set 15 to with a wonderful backhand volley that angled away from Bob.
There were no service breaks in the second set, although the American twins came through sudden death deuces at 1-1 and 2-2. The Bryans took a 4-2 lead in the tie-break, but were powerless as Paes and Stepanek won three of the next four points.
At 5-5, Paes hit a high volley winner for set point opportunity, but Bob Bryan saved it with a smash winner. A clever low return by Mike Bryan at 7-6, enabled Bob Bryan to cross and volley into space to end the 53-minute set.
In a 16-minute Match tie-break, Paes and Stepanek took a 6-4 lead and maintained the two-point cushion. At 9-7, Mike Bryan returned into the net.
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