Hutchins & Kerr through to Japan Open final
Anglo-Aussie duo face Austrians for Tokyo title…
Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr are through to the final of the Japan Open after a 6-3 3-6 10-7 semi-final victory over Christopher Kas and Jaroslav Levinsky.
The Anglo-Aussie duo, playing together for just the third time this season, edged the encounter by the tightest of margins, winning 58 points to their German-Czech opponents’ 57 as both teams claimed a sinlge break in each set to reach the match tiebreak.
In front of a capacity 10,000 crowd at the Ariake Colosseum, Hutchins and Kerr got off to a strong start, hitting five aces on their way to the first set in which they saved the single break point chance for Kas and Levinsky.
The Czech-German duo responded well after losing the first set, denying Hutchins and Kerr a chance to break and taking one of three break points to square the match.
In the match tie-break, Hutchins and Kerr made their chances at minibreaks count, claiming both points against their opponents’ second serves to clinch the match and their place in the final.
It will be a first final appearance in 2009 for Hutchins, while world No. 35 Kerr lifted the Hall of Fame Championships crown in Newport with Rajeev Ram back in July.
The Anglo-Aussie duo will face Austrian pair Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer in the final, who beat Japanese wildcards Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki 6-2 4-6 10-4 in the other semifinal.
