Hutchins and Kerr move on in Metz
No.2 seeds down alternates in three…
Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr are through to the quarter-finals of the Open de Moselle in Metz after storming back to a 4-6 6-0 10-4 victory against Russian duo Dmitri Sitak and Evgeny Korolev.
The British No.1, pairing up with the Australian for the first time since the Sony Ericsson Open in March, recovered in emphatic fashion after facing an onslaught from the tournament’s alternate pair, drafted in to replace French pair Nicolas Mahut and Josselin Ouanna after Ouanna withdrew with an injured back.
Sitak and Korolev brought up eleven break points in the first set, and although Hutchins and Kerr saved ten of them, the Russians’ single conversion was enough to take the set, as the Anglo-Aussie duo failed to take one of their three break point chances.
The second set was an entirely different affair, with Hutchins and Kerr seizing their chances to break both Sitak and Korolev and race through to a bagel set.
The match tie-break was similarly one-sided, Hutchins and Kerr sealing the win at the first time of asking to await German opposition in the next round.
Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner face Andreas Beck and Michael Berrer for a place in the last eight.
Elsewhere, No.4 seeds Erik Butorac and Scott Lipsky are out after a straight-sets defeat to Mischa Zverev and Rainer Schuettler, while Bjorn Phau and Philipp Marx beat Andrey Golubev and Alessandro Motti in three.
