Novak Djokovic and Carlos Gomez-Herrera toppled another seeded team at the Mallorca Championships as they as they defeated third seeds Oliver Marach and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-3, 7-6(4) in the semi-finals on Thursday.
But their run was cut short as the wild cards were forced to withdraw later in the day, with Gomez-Herrera citing an ankle injury. Fourth seeds Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez will take on second seeds Philipp Oswald and Marcus Daniell in Saturday's semi-final clash, with the winner going on to lift the ATP 250 trophy.
“All around, everything clicked quite amazingly in the last several days for us," Djokovic said in an on-court interview. "I’m just super thrilled to share the court with him and to reach our first final together.”
Djokovic and Gomez-Herrera reached the final in the first tournament of their partnership. For World No. 1 Djokovic, it was his first doubles final since winning at The Queen's Club in 2010 with Jonathan Erlich, and for the 31-year-old Spaniard it was his career first.
At the Viking International Eastbourne, top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic saved five match points and recorded two victories on Thursday to move to the final.
Firstly, the Croatian pair, who have won six titles this year including three ATP Masters 1000s in Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome, took down Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan 6-3, 7-6(3). They then edged past wild cards Harri Heliovaara and Lloyd Glasspool 6-4, 6-7(5), 18-16 in one hour and 40 minutes. Mektic and Pavic hit eight aces and saved five match points in the decider to advance.
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They will face third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the championship match after the American-British team also won twice on Thursday. Ram and Salisbury cruised past John Peers and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals, before beating second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-0, 6-7(0), 10-6.
The Colombian duo took down Hugo Nys and Jonny O'Mara 7-5, 6-4 in their quarter-final earlier on Thursday. However, Cabal and Farah, who were aiming to reach a fourth ATP Tour final of the season, could not replicate this against Ram and Salisbury.
But their run was cut short as the wild cards were forced to withdraw later in the day, with Gomez-Herrera citing an ankle injury. Fourth seeds Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez will take on second seeds Philipp Oswald and Marcus Daniell in Saturday's semi-final clash, with the winner going on to lift the ATP 250 trophy.
“All around, everything clicked quite amazingly in the last several days for us," Djokovic said in an on-court interview. "I’m just super thrilled to share the court with him and to reach our first final together.”
Djokovic and Gomez-Herrera reached the final in the first tournament of their partnership. For World No. 1 Djokovic, it was his first doubles final since winning at The Queen's Club in 2010 with Jonathan Erlich, and for the 31-year-old Spaniard it was his career first.
At the Viking International Eastbourne, top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic saved five match points and recorded two victories on Thursday to move to the final.
Firstly, the Croatian pair, who have won six titles this year including three ATP Masters 1000s in Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome, took down Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan 6-3, 7-6(3). They then edged past wild cards Harri Heliovaara and Lloyd Glasspool 6-4, 6-7(5), 18-16 in one hour and 40 minutes. Mektic and Pavic hit eight aces and saved five match points in the decider to advance.
[WATCH LIVE 2]
They will face third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the championship match after the American-British team also won twice on Thursday. Ram and Salisbury cruised past John Peers and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals, before beating second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-0, 6-7(0), 10-6.
The Colombian duo took down Hugo Nys and Jonny O'Mara 7-5, 6-4 in their quarter-final earlier on Thursday. However, Cabal and Farah, who were aiming to reach a fourth ATP Tour final of the season, could not replicate this against Ram and Salisbury.