In their first doubles game since their August win in New York, the German-Austrian duo of Philipp Petzschner and Jurgen Melzer brushed aside the challenge of Russian Mikhail Elgin and Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, winning 7-6(7-5), 6-2 in 73 minutes to move into the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011.
Although the top seeded doubles pair squandered a number of opportunities to break their opponents in the first set and were forced into a tie-break, they got quickly off the mark in the second to wrap the tie up.
“We played good tennis and even though it looked close in the first set, we actually had opportunities to break them in five out of their six service games. The second set was a bit more of a cruise,” said 27-year-old Petzschner after the match, adding that the US Open win was a great confidence booster.
However, both men will still place greater focus on the singles tournament, with 30-year-old Melzer seeded fourth in the draw. “Singles is still our priority – doubles is more for fun,” he said. - Karan (Malaysian Open)
