Hutchins and Kerr stun No.4 seeds in Memphis
Gritty performance sees off Czech-Slovak pair…
Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr are through to the quarter-finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships after beating the No.4 seeds Filip Polasek and Martin Damm 6-3 7-6(9).
The Anglo-Aussie duo took their only break point chance to seal the first set, and edged out the Czech-Slovakian team in a tense second-set tiebreak after seeing a match point come and go at 5-4.
“We played a good team – especially indoors they play well,” said Hutchins afterwards. “We couldn’t take that match point, but then dug in really deep and won a great tie-break.”
The victory will be a particular boost for Hutchins, who has spent the last few weeks fighting to be fit once more after his promising start to the season was hit by elbow and hamstring injuries.
“The elbow pain is gone, and the hamstring is getting better,” added Hutchins. “I got a lot of treatment from Sophie at the NTC last week trying to get it right, and was in the gym each day to keep the body healthy!”
Next up in Memphis will be Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Niemenen, who beat Ivo Karlovic and Dusan Vemic in their first-round match on Tuesday.
