Melzer-Petzschner Set Murrays Semis Clash

© Henk KosterPhilipp Petzschner and Jurgen Melzer have impressed on their debut in Rotterdam.

Second seeds Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner cruised into the semi-finals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament as they dismissed Swedish-Belgian duo Simon Aspelin and Dick Norman 6-2, 6-2 on Friday at the ATP World Tour 500 indoor hard-court tennis tournament in Rotterdam.

The Austrian-German duo fired eight aces and converted four of seven break points to prevail in 53 minutes. The 2010 Wimbledon champions are coming off a quarter-final showing at the Australian Open (l. to Bryans) and will look to reach the final on their debut in Rotterdam when they face British duo Andy Murray and Jamie Murray.

The Murray brothers, who defeated third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-3 in 62 minutes, are playing together for the first time since clinching their maiden ATP World Tour team title in Valencia in November.

Fourth seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic saved 12 break points to battle past Dutch wild cards Thiemo de Bakker and Robin Haase 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-5 in one hour and 33 minutes. The French-Serbian duo advanced straight to the final after their scheduled semi-final opponents, Tomas Berdych and Philipp Kohlschreiber were forced to withdraw, with Berdych suffering from flu.

In the SAP Open quarter-finals, there were mixed fortunes for the top two seeds. No. 1 seeds Mark Knowles and Michal Mertinak edged the towering duo of Juan Martin del Potro and Sam Querrey 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 to reach their first ATP World Tour semi-final in their third tournament together.

However, Americans Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram ousted second seeds Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer 7-6(8), 6-3 in 69 minutes. The unseeded Lipsky and Martin are bidding to reach their second final in a row after finishing runners-up last week at the SA Tennis Open (l. to Cerretani-Shamasdin) in Johannesburg.

Brazilian second seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares delighted the home crowd in Costa do Sauipe as they reached the final of the Brasil Open with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Fabio Fognini and David Marrero. They are chasing their second ATP World Tour title in as many weeks after opening the Latin American “Golden Swing” last week with victory at the Movistar Open (d. Kubot-Marach) in Santiago.

For the title they will face first-time finalists Pablo Andujar and Daniel Gimeno-Traver after the unseeded Spanish pairing saved seven break points to beat Albert Montanes and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 6-4 in 58 minutes.