01 | November | 2015 | Tennis Courts Map Directory

Butorac/Lipsky Earn Doubles Crown In Valencia

Posted: Nov 01, 2015

Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky captured their second ATP World Tour team title on Sunday as they upset fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi 7-6(4), 6-3 in the final of the Valencia Open.

“They’re a tough team,” said Butorac after the victory in 75 minutes. “They serve really big and play aggressive tennis. So we knew we had to absorb powerful serves and then be very good on our service games. We served really well and played a very good tie-break in the first set. It was a great week all round.”

The Americans did not drop a set en route to the title. They were playing their third final together, having won the Estoril title in 2009 (d. Lindstedt/Damm) and finished runners-up in August this year in Winston-Salem (l. to Inglot/Lindstedt).

“It’s a great way for me to end the year,” said Lipsky, who won his 14th ATP World Tour title. “You don’t normally get to end the year with a victory and a title. So I’m happy about that.”

“We’re excited for 2016,” added Butorac, who will play with John Isner at the BNP Paribas Masters next week. “We talked a lot last night about some of our plans for the off season, some things we think we can improve on. I think we’re playing really good tennis and we’ve been getting a lot of wins. Maybe some slight adjustments, a couple of improvements and we can be one of the best teams next year.”

Sousa Denies Bautista Agut In Valencia

Posted: Nov 01, 2015

Joao Sousa defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to capture the Valencia Open title. The Portuguese secured his second ATP World Tour title (2013 Kuala Lumpur) by upending his Spanish opponent in two hours and six minutes. He earned 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €97,700, while Bautista Agut received 150 points and €51,450.

The World No. 24 Bautista Agut, playing in front of his home crowd, was going for a second title in as many weeks after losing in the Moscow final against Marin Cilic seven days ago. He fought hard to put himself in that position, having saved six match points in a semi-final thriller against Steve Johnson.

“I was playing very well, a set and 3-2, had a ball for 4-2 in the second,” noted Bautista Agut. “Unfortunately, my intensity went down and I was very tired in the third set. I know that I finished the last two matches very late, I also came from Moscow where I reached the final last week, it’s been a long season and obviously this has affected my performance today.”

Sousa was attempting to overturn a 0-3 record in tour-level finals this season, having finished runner-up in Geneva (outdoor clay), Umag (outdoor clay) and St. Petersburg (indoor hard) earlier in the year. His seven career tour-level finals have come solely on outdoor clay and indoor hard courts.

“I didn’t get into the match as well as I wanted, Roberto was very solid,” said Sousa. “When he was a break up in the second, I decided to change my tactic a bit. I am extremely happy to end my season with this win.

“I’ve been based in Spain since I was 15 years old, so in a way I feel a bit at home here and it’s great to be able to win this title here and in front of my family who I had no idea was going to come; they drove 10 hours from Portugal to be here today,” revealed Sousa. “I’ve lost five finals before so going into this match I was prepared to give it all until the end and it paid off.”

The Portuguese only put 48 per cent of first serves in play and needed to save seven break points throughout the match (7/10), but was opportunistic on break points, breaking Bautista Agut four times on five opportunities to end a two-year title drought.

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Peya/Soares Capture Basel Doubles Crown

Posted: Nov 01, 2015

Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares gave their Barclays ATP World Tour Finals bid a big boost on Sunday as they captured their second title of the season at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The Austrian/Brazilian duo defeated Jamie Murray and John Peers 7-5, 7-5 in the final.

Peya and Soares are ninth in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London and closed the gap on eighth-placed Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea to just 125 points. Five teams are vying for the eighth and final spot at the prestigious season finale, with 1000 points to play for at the upcoming BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. Murray and Peers, two-time Grand Slam finalists this season, have already clinched their spot in the eight-team field.

“Paris will be another very tough event,” said Soares. “All we can do is bring our confidence to Paris. Right now we’re playing some great tennis, probably our best of the whole year. So let’s try to bring this momentum to Paris and fight for the last spot.”

Peya and Soares improved to a 6-2 mark against Murray and Peers as they claimed victory in one hour and 33 minutes, breaking serve four times. Both teams will end their partnerships at the close of 2015, with Soares and Murray due to join forces for the 2016 season.

“It feels amazing. We had a rollercoaster in the first round and got through it,” said Peya. “But most of the time that’s how you end up winning tournaments! Then we started playing really well and picked up our confidence. I think we played pretty great matches after.”

Peya and Soares captured their 12th ATP World Tour title together. They have played three finals this season, lifting the trophy in Munich (d. Zverev brothers) and finishing runners-up in Stuttgart (l. to Bopanna/Mergea).

Murray and Peers were contesting their eighth final of the season and fell to a 2-6 mark. They also finished runners-up last week in Vienna at the Erste Bank Open (l. to Kubot/Melo).

Story Of Basel 2015

Posted: Nov 01, 2015

Relive the best moments from the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel.

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