Fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Reilly Opelka and John Peers 6-4, 7-5 to claim the doubles title at the cinch Championships in London on Sunday.
Last week’s Roland Garros champions won 77 per cent (30/39) of their first-service points and broke three times as they wrapped up victory in 78 minutes. They are now 25-7 on the season.
“Mahut is the older one of the team, so he was taking care at the end, serving aces when we were down two break points,” Herbert said. "We only got three hours of practice time on the grass before the first match, but we missed the grass last season, so being back here playing on the grass is joyful."
Mahut added: “It was something special to win [Roland Garros] in our hometown with our family last week. It is good to come here now on grass, and we didn’t expect anything, but we are now here with the trophy. It has been an amazing three weeks."
Opelka and Peers had previously beaten singles finalist Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur 7-6(3), 6-3 on Sunday after rain ended play early on Saturday night at The Queen’s Club. However, after an even start in the final, the American-Australian team were broken in the seventh game, with Herbert and Mahut closing out the set on serve.
The French pair continued to dictate in the second set and broke Peers' serve to move 2-1 ahead. They then won 86 per cent (18/21) of their first-service points in the second set, and dominated around the net to establish control. While Herbert failed to serve out the contest, the French team broke again and served out the match to win their second title of the year.
Peers won the Gonet Geneva Open title with Michael Venus, but teamed up with Opelka for this first time this week in London. The pair took out top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the quarter-finals, but could not produce a repeat performance against Herbert and Mahut.
Last week’s Roland Garros champions won 77 per cent (30/39) of their first-service points and broke three times as they wrapped up victory in 78 minutes. They are now 25-7 on the season.
“Mahut is the older one of the team, so he was taking care at the end, serving aces when we were down two break points,” Herbert said. "We only got three hours of practice time on the grass before the first match, but we missed the grass last season, so being back here playing on the grass is joyful."
Mahut added: “It was something special to win [Roland Garros] in our hometown with our family last week. It is good to come here now on grass, and we didn’t expect anything, but we are now here with the trophy. It has been an amazing three weeks."
Opelka and Peers had previously beaten singles finalist Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur 7-6(3), 6-3 on Sunday after rain ended play early on Saturday night at The Queen’s Club. However, after an even start in the final, the American-Australian team were broken in the seventh game, with Herbert and Mahut closing out the set on serve.
The French pair continued to dictate in the second set and broke Peers' serve to move 2-1 ahead. They then won 86 per cent (18/21) of their first-service points in the second set, and dominated around the net to establish control. While Herbert failed to serve out the contest, the French team broke again and served out the match to win their second title of the year.
Peers won the Gonet Geneva Open title with Michael Venus, but teamed up with Opelka for this first time this week in London. The pair took out top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the quarter-finals, but could not produce a repeat performance against Herbert and Mahut.