Doubles Drama: Barrientos/Behar, Doumbia/Reboul Save MPs In Cordoba

@CordobaOpen / Nicolás Aguilera

Only three doubles matches were played on Thursday at the Cordoba Open, but there was no shortage of drama, with two thrillers decided in Match Tie-breaks.

Nicolas Barrientos and Ariel Behar earned a 6-7(5), 6-4, 11-9 win against Hugo Dellien and Guido Pella, clawing back from 2/7 in the deciding tie-break and saving a match point at 8/9. The Colombian-Uruguayan pair won the final three points to advance to the quarter-finals, where they will meet top seeds Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez.

Barrientos/Behar dropped serve just once in the one-hour, 47-minute contest, when they failed to serve out the opening set at 5-4. They saved five of six break points, including two in the second set.

In quarter-final action, third seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul also staved off a match point in a 6-2, 4-6, 12-10 victory against Spaniards Roberto Carballes Baena and Pedro Martinez. After leading 9/6 in the Match Tie-break, the Frenchmen faced that match point at 9/10 before claiming the win on their fourth opportunity.

Semis Set In Montpellier
Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop also saved a match point in their quarter-final win at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier on Thursday. The fourth-seeded Dutchmen defeated the French team of Theo Arribage and Luca Sanchez 3-6, 6-2, 13-11, erasing the match point at 9/10 in the Match Tie-break.

They will face top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in Friday's semi-finals after the Germans downed Frenchmen Manuel Guinard and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 6-4.

Dallas QF Action
Three of the four quarter-finals at the Dallas Open were settled in Match Tie-breaks, with all four of the top seeds in action.

Top seeds Michael Venus and Jamie Murray defeated Miomir Kecmanovic and William Blumberg 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5 to set up a semi-final meeting with fourth seeds Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan, who also came from behind to beat Serbian brothers Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov 3-6, 6-3, 10-4.

Indians Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni scored the lone upset of the day with a 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 win against third-seeded Britons Julian Cash and Henry Patten. Their semi-final opponents, second-seeded Americans Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons, were 6-3, 6-2 winners against Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Treat Huey.