Melo/Kubot March On In Rio

Second seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo encountered few problems on Thursday at the Rio Open presented by Claro, charging into the doubles semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Roman Jebavy/Igor Zelenay. Kubot/Melo saved both break points and cruised to victory after 75 minutes.

Third seeds Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos prevailed in a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-8 clash with Maximo Gonzalez/Fabrice Martin. They are on a six-match winning streak after taking the title last week in Buenos Aires (d. Duran/Londero).

Awaiting them in the semi-finals are Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves/Thiago Monteiro, who defeated Orlando Luz/Rafael Matos 6-3, 7-6(7) in a battle of Brazilian wild cards. Rodrigues Alves/Monteiro erased two set points at 4/6 in the tie-break before converting their third match point. This is the first tour-level doubles semi-final for either player.

At the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, top seeds Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies moved past Benoit Paire/David Vega Hernandez 6-2, 7-6(5). Next up is a semi-final clash with Nicolas Mahut/Vasek Pospisil, who upset fourth seeds Jurgen Melzer/Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-4.

Quarter-final action at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com saw fourth seeds Luke Bambrdge/Ben McLachlan take out Nicholas Monroe/Jackson Withrow 6-2, 7-6(5). They’ll face Nikola Cacic/Hugo Nys for a place in the final after the Croatian-French duo defeated Taylor Fritz/Tommy Paul 7-6(4), 6-4.

Marcelo Arevalo/Jonny O’Mara broke serve three times in their 6-4, 6-4 victory against Christian Harrison/Dennis Novikov. Arevalo/O’Mara await the winner of top seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan and Divij Sharan/Artem Sitak.