Huey, Lipsky reach semis; Nadal looms
TREAT Huey and American partner Scotty Lipsky barreled to the semifinals Thursday after a rousing 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 upset triumph over second seeds Franticek Cermak of Czech Republic and Julian Knowle of Austria in the Gerry Weber Open men’s doubles competition in Halle, Germany.
The 26-year-old ringleader of PH tennis and Lipsky stepped on the gas in the super tiebreak to score the shocking win and set up the thrilling prospects of playing against newly minted French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who is paired with Marcelo Granollers.
Nadal and Granollers are up against Michael Kohlmann and Florian Mayer of Germany in the quarterfinals. But that match has yet to start as the world No. 2 just finished his third-round singles match, beating Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-1.
Huey, ranked 39th in the world in doubles, and Lipsky edged their opponents in most statistics including breakpoints saved (4 of 5). Cermak and Knowle saved only 1 of 2. The 35-year-old Cermak is 24th in the world, while Knowle, 38, is 48th in the world rankings.
Top seeds Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan and Jean Julien Rojer of Netherlands downed Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Philipp Marx of Germany, 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (7-1), 10-7, to also advance.
Qureshi and Rojer will take on Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who drubbed Canadians Milos Raonic and Adil Shamasden, 6-3, 7-5. Marc Anthony Reyes
