Asia Tennis/Qatar: Errani and Vinci won over Petrova and Srebotnik in the doubles semifinals

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won their 13th match in a row in the doubles semifinals of the Qatar Total Open on Saturday, but awaiting them in the final is the last team to beat them.

The star power wasn’t restricted to the singles court on Semifinal Saturday at the Qatar Total Open – four of the best teams in the world put their discipline up for display on the doubles court, too. And in the end it was the Top 2 seeds that battled through to the final of the Premier event.

The first semifinal was a cracker, with No.1 seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci coming within a game of going out down 61 65 and needing four match points to edge No.6 seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke, 16 76(3) 119. The two teams had a history – Groenefeld and Peschke had beaten them in Brisbane earlier this year, and pushed them to an 18-16 match tie-break in Sydney, as well.

“Every match is tough, but we are a good team together and were able to turn it around and play a great match against them,” Vinci said. “They were playing really unbelievable in the first set.”

“They were playing so aggressive that we knew we couldn’t play long points anymore – every ball we gave them, they were hitting so many big shots and winners from,” Errani said. “So we knew we had to be more aggressive after the first set. And they also started making more mistakes after that.”

Errani and Vinci have now won 13 matches in a row – six to win the Australian Open, three to win Paris (Indoors), one in Fed Cup play last weekend and three more so far this week here in Doha.

Awaiting them in the final will be the No.2 seeds, Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik, who were also pushed to the limits in their match, edging No.3 seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears, 36 63 1210. Petrova and Srebotnik needed three match points to close out the American combination.

“We’re quite happy we kept cool and collected and were able to finish it at the end,” said Petrova after being asked about some of the close calls in the match tie-break. “We feel quite confident.”

The only time Errani and Vinci have played Petrova and Srebotnik was in the Sydney final this year, with Petrova and Srebotnik winning, 63 64 – that was actually the Italians’ last loss together.

Read also:

http://en.africatopsports.com/2013/02/17/athleticsuganda-kiprotich-focuses-on-marathon/


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