Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic started their Green Group campaign at the Nitto ATP Finals with their 60th match win of the season on Sunday.
The Croatians, who have already finished at year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings, defeated eighth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau 6-4, 6-4 in 77 minutes at the Pala Alpitour.
In an outstanding season, 34-year-old Mektic and 28-year-old Pavic have captured nine tour-level trophies, including at Wimbledon (d. Granollers/Zeballos), the Tokyo Olympics gold medal (d. Cilic/Dodig) and three ATP Masters 1000s: the Miami Open presented by Itau and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Evans/N. Skupski both times), and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome (d. Ram/Salisbury).
Following their win on Sunday, Mektic and Pavic were presented the year-end No. 1 doubles trophy by ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi in an on-court ceremony.
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Tecau came under pressure immediately, losing his serve when he missed a half volley at the net in the first game, but the Romanian recovered from 15/40 with four straight points at 1-3. Pavic calmly closed out the 35-minute opener with a hold to love in a serve-dominated performance, with the Croatians striking four aces and winning 90 per cent of their first-service points overall.
The second set turned in favour of Mektic and Pavic when Krawietz hit a second double fault on the deciding point at 2-2. It proved to be decisive, as Mektic later closed out the match with an ace.
Krawietz and Tecau are now 28-14 on the season. Six years ago, Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer did not drop a set en route to Nitto ATP Finals trophy.
Fourth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, and sixth seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek also feature in the Green Group at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.
The Croatians, who have already finished at year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings, defeated eighth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau 6-4, 6-4 in 77 minutes at the Pala Alpitour.
In an outstanding season, 34-year-old Mektic and 28-year-old Pavic have captured nine tour-level trophies, including at Wimbledon (d. Granollers/Zeballos), the Tokyo Olympics gold medal (d. Cilic/Dodig) and three ATP Masters 1000s: the Miami Open presented by Itau and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Evans/N. Skupski both times), and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome (d. Ram/Salisbury).
Following their win on Sunday, Mektic and Pavic were presented the year-end No. 1 doubles trophy by ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi in an on-court ceremony.
[FOLLOW ACTION]
Tecau came under pressure immediately, losing his serve when he missed a half volley at the net in the first game, but the Romanian recovered from 15/40 with four straight points at 1-3. Pavic calmly closed out the 35-minute opener with a hold to love in a serve-dominated performance, with the Croatians striking four aces and winning 90 per cent of their first-service points overall.
The second set turned in favour of Mektic and Pavic when Krawietz hit a second double fault on the deciding point at 2-2. It proved to be decisive, as Mektic later closed out the match with an ace.
Krawietz and Tecau are now 28-14 on the season. Six years ago, Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer did not drop a set en route to Nitto ATP Finals trophy.
Fourth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, and sixth seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek also feature in the Green Group at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.