It was a hot start to Semifinal Saturday at the Citi Open as on-court temperatures reached over 133 degrees Fahrenheit (56 degrees Celsius), during the first match of the day between Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin against Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau. It was the ageless wonder Nestor who continues his fine last few months by booking his spot into the Citi Open doubles final along with Roger-Vasselin. The defeated the Romanian duo of Mergea and Tecau in straight sets by a score of 6-3, 6-4. Nestor and Roger-Vasselin will meet the winner of the night match between Henri Kontinen/John Peers and Lukasz Kubot/Alexander Peya.
Late Break Gives Nestor-Roger Vasselin First Set
Early on, it was the Romanian’s who were having a bit of trouble. Tecau was serving down 15-40 and saved two break points serving for 3-all. They saved the third on the deciding point on deuce to get it to three-all.
After another quick hold from Nestor and Roger-Vasselin, the French/Canadian duo continued to put the pressure on the all-Romanian team. A forehand volley winner from Nestor put Mergea down 0-30 on his serve. Mergea and Tecau could not recover from the deficit as they were broken fo 5-3 at 15 after a netted forehand from Mergea.
Roger-Vasselin felt no pressure whatsoever when serving out for the set. An ace at 30-15 set up two set points and a backhand stab return fell short of going over the net to give Nestor and Roger-Vasselin the first set 6-3. The telling stat of the first set was that Mergea/Tecau only won 14 percent of second serve points
Another Late Break Completes The Victory
Break chances were a premium in this set as each team only got a couple of looks each to make their mark. The first look at break point for Mergea and Tecau were when Roger-Vasselin and Nestor were up 3-2. They had two looks, one at 30-40 and the other at deciding point but could not convert. The next game, they were able to save their own break point on deciding point after a forehand was hit long by Roger-Vasselin.
The Romanians looked to continue the pattern of holds, but Nestor and Roger-Vasselin had other ideas. The French/Canadian pairing came back from 40-15 down to force a deciding point. With the receiver able to choose which side to return from, Nestor and Roger-Vasselin went for the Canadian on the return. The choice paid off in a big way as the Canadian ripped a forehand return winner for a break at 5-4 and a chance to serve for the match. The two had no problems closing out the Romanians as they won 6-4 to book their spot in the final.