By Glenys Furness
- Colin Fleming & Jonathan Erlich progressed to Semi final in Bucharest
- Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares make Barcelona quarter final.
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA Colin Fleming & Jonathan Erlich had the best placing on the ATP main tour with a semi final spot.
Colin Fleming was playing with his Israeli partner Jonathan Erlich. Seeded fourth the Brit/Israeli team drew Robin Hasse & Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi in the first round. In a very tight first set, neither team gave an inch and it headed to a tiebreak.
The non seeds dominated the breaker, leaving Fleming & Erlich struggling for points. Hasse & Qureshi sealed the set 7-3. The second set proved to be just as tight, with both teams still going toe to toe. Like the first set it went to a tiebreak, with the seeds edging the breaker 9-7
A match tiebreak would decide the quarter finalists. Fleming & Erlich were not going down without a fight, and edged the tiebreak 10-6 to make the next round.
In the quarter finals the Brit/Israeli pairing faced Guido Pella & Lukas Rosol. The seeds did not get off to the best of starts as the Argentine/Czech team broke twice to take the first set 6-2.
The second set went better for the seeds, as they got their game together and broke Pella & Rosol taking the set 6-4 and levelling up the match. Once again a match tiebreak would be needed to settle the semi final berth. Fleming & Erlich once again fought hard and edged the breaker 10-6.
In the semi final the seeds faced Chris Guccione & Andre Sa. The seeds had their work cut out in the match as the Australian/Brazilian pairing broke to seal the first set 6-4. Unfortunately the second set was very much the same as the first, with Guccione & Sa again breaking to take the set 6-4 and the match in straight sets.
Over in Barcelona Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares were seeded third, the first round saw the Brit/Brazilian face Henri Kontinen and his old partner John Peers. Just like Murray & Soares, Peers and Kontinen teamed up at the start of the year.
The third seeds broke the Australian/Finnish pairing to take the first set comfortably 6-4. Having played with each other previously gave Peers an advantage when it came to the game of Murray. This proved to be true when the non seeds broke in the second set to level up by taking it 6-4.
A match tiebreak ensued to decide the quarter finalists. This proved to be very very close with both teams determined to advance. Eventually Murray & Soares edged the breaker 14-12 to make the next round.
The quarter final saw the third seeds face Marc Lopez & Feliciano Lopez once again. The Brit/Brazilian managed to break the non seeds to take the first set 6-3. The Spaniards were not going to go away though and broke Murray & Soares to comfortably take the set 6-2 and level the match.
A match tiebreak would once again be needed to decide the semi finalists. Team Lopez continued the momentum and eventually edged the breaker 10-6. Although losing in the quarter final, Murray has extended his lead on the number one spot. His nearest rival lost in the first round to ensuring the Brit would hold onto the number one ranking for longer.
On the challenger tour and in Nanjing Liam Broady drew Belgian Arthur De Greef. The Belgian is higher ranked than Broady, and De Greef certainly showed this as he strolled the first set 6-2.
The second set went much the same way as the Brit struggled to make any impression on the Belgian game. Eventually De Greef overcame the Broady 6-3 to take the match in straight sets.
In Turin Neal & Ken Skupsi were the second seeds. Their first round opponents were Tomasz Bednarek & Philipp Oswald. The Polish/Austrian pairing eventually managed to get the vital break needed in the first set, taking it 7-5.
The second set saw the Brits getting in the match, and the Skupski brothers levelled up after breaking to take the set 6-4. Once again a match tie break would decide who progressed to the quarter final.
The breaker was as close as neither team were willing to give an inch, but eventually the Brits edged the match 10-8 to make the quarter final.
The quarter final saw the Brits against a wildcard pairing of Edoardo Eremin & Lorenzo Sonego. The Skupski Brothers had the ideal start, taking the first set with ease as they served up a breadstick set 6-1.
The second set was much closer as Eremin & Sonego found their game against the Brits and forced a tiebreak. In the breaker the non seeds dominated as the Brits found themselves down 7-2 and one set all.
Once again a match tiebreak would be needed to decide who would progress to the semi final. Both pairs wanted that semi final spot, and eventually the Brits edged it 11-9.
In the semi final the Skupski brothers faced the second seeds of Ramaiz Junaid & Mateusz Kowalczyk. The first set saw the Brits dominate taking it easily 6-1. The second seeds however, game back strongly in the next set. Junaid & Kowalczyk dominated and levelled up by taking the set 6-1.
Another match tiebreak would be needed to decide the finalists. The Skupski brothers fought hard but were just edged by the second seeds 12-10 to bring their run to an end.
Moving to Savannah and James Ward was playing in the singles. He drew the American Tennys Sandgren. The Brit started off well and broke early. Ward held onto the advantage taking the set 6-3.
The American then stepped up his game and broke the Brit early in the second set, this levelled the match as Sandgren took it 6-2. Unfortunately the third set went on a similar vein as the players exchanged breaks, before the American managed to get ahead. Finally taking the match 6-3.
Next week Brits are playing in Estoril, Munich, Istanbul, Prague, Rabat, Taipei & Tallahassee
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