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Robson Battles Way Into Fourth Round, Seeds Progress in Doubles

Ros Satar
Ros SatarTennis

By Ros Satar

Laura Robson def. Marina Erakovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3

Laura Robson had fans’ hearts racing as she toyed with their emotions before winning in three sets .

There is no gentle way to put it, it was a slow start from the British no. 1 who found Erakovic’s serve hard to read as the first set shot by her (and us) 1-6.

Another early break at the start of the second set stunned the crowd in to silence, but they got right back in it after Robson saved a match point.

It was the start of a romp as Robson won eight games on the bounce and Erakovic’s serve had obviously gotten lost somewhere.

Double faults, something that is no stranger to Robson’s game, seemed to have switched allegiance as Erakovic produced a string of them, including the one that handed the second set over to the Brit.

Robson started very well in the third, hyperbole was flowing, but the New Zealander’s serve had obviously got a map and found its way to Court 2 (way over the back of the grounds).

Erakovic broke to get herself on the board, and Robson found herself 0-30 down serving for the match but it was just Laura teasing us, as she cleared the game, putting a Brit woman in the fourth round for the first time since 1998 with Sam Smith.

As a nice touch Smith was commentating on Robson’s match.

Meanwhile there was a glut of doubles action happening all at the same time:

Colin Fleming/Jonny Marray [9] def. Frantisek Cermak/Michal Mertinak 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(7)

Defending men’s doubles champion Jonny Marray advanced to the third round with his Davis Cup partner Colin Fleming in a straight sets victory.

Fleming continued to look a little hampered at times after an injury to his side, but ninth seeds looked sharp as they stormed into the third round.

Dominic Inglot/Treat Huey def. Andre Begemann/Martin Emmrich 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(3)

Joining them in the third round were 16th seeds Dominic Inglot and Treat Huey (PHI).

The pair had a run to the third round at the French Open, and followed that up with a closely contested 4-setter.

There were equally close matches but agonising losses for the unseeded pairings.

James Blake/Jurgen Melzer def. Jamie Murray/John Peers 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 14-12

It was an long battle in the fifth set for Murray and Peers who saved 2 match points in an earlier game, before facing two more at 12-13 in the first set.

Aisem Aureshi/Jean-Julien Rojer  def Ken Skupski/Xavier Malisse6-3, 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-7(5), 8-6

After splitting the first two sets before play was suspended last night, Skupski and Malisse also found themselves in a fifth set decider .

Leander Paes/Radek Stepanek [4] def. Jamie Delgado/Matt Ebden (AUS) 6-4, 6-4, 6-3

There was a delay as Ebden was made to change his shoes, which had blue soles, but the pair fought hard against the fourth seeds went through in straight sets.

Alas our boast of having people in every draw came to a halt in the late evening,

Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Kveta Peschke def. Lisa Raymond/Laura Robson 6-4, 6-4

Robson could not quite make it two for two on Ct 2, as she and partner Lisa Raymond went out in straight sets.

Robson has yet to play her first round Mixed Doubles match, partnering Colin Fleming.

Mixed Fortunes

Dominic Inglot/Johanna Konta def. Nicolas Almagro/Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 4-6, 6-3, 19-17

Inglot, who has already advanced to the third round of the men’s doubles, was out again, for a bit of a while as he and Jo Konta battled until they finally got the final, decisive break.

Fabio Fognini/Flavia Pennetta def. Jamie Delgado/Tara Moore 7-6(2), 6-3

Despite pushing the Italian pairing to a tiebreak, the Brit pair could not stay with them.

Jonathan Marray/Heather Watson def. Robin Haase/Alicja Rosolska 6-3, 7-5

It was a bit more straight forward for the defending men’s doubles champion and the former Brit women’s no. 1 who came through their first round match easily.

Jamie Murray/Su-Wei Hsieh v Jean-Julien Rojer/Vera Dushevina 7-6(2), 3-6, *3-5

Jamie Murray had a long day – started the day with a 5 set doubles match – ended with his mixed suspended at *3-5 in the deciding set.  They had managed to get back a break, but face the difficult task of serving to stay in the match at the restart.