Top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah wasted no time in capturing their first ATP World Tour doubles title of the year, downing Inigo Cervantes and Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-0 in exactly one hour in the Argentina Open final on Sunday. It was Cabal/Farah’s fifth tour-level title in 13 final appearances.

“It was a great match,” Farah said. “[Juan Sebastian] and I thought that we played at a high level, and the score said it all. After we got the first break, we both returned very well. We were very relaxed in the second set and stayed focused.”

“We’re really happy to get the title in Buenos Aires,” Cabal added. “We felt good both on and off the court here. We were good in the key moments today.”

After surviving Match Tie-breaks in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals, Cabal/Farah thrived in the final, saving all five break points faced while converting four of five break points on their opponents’ serve. The champions finished with four aces and landed 69 per cent of first serves.

Cervantes and Lorenzi were playing in their second tournament as a team. The Spaniard and the Italian partnered up last week in Quito and lost in the first round to Thomaz Bellucci and Marcelo Demoliner. It was Cervantes’ first ATP World Tour doubles final, while Lorenzi drops to 1-2 in final appearances (title at Vina del Mar 2013 with Starace).

Cabal/Farah earned 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and will split $28,290, while Cervantes and Lorenzi took home 150 points and $14,870.

Top Americans John Isner and Jack Sock took in the magnificent views of Rio de Janeiro from the sky on Saturday evening as they were treated to a helicopter tour by Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci ahead of the Rio Open presented by Claro.

The trio flew over a number of iconic landmarks, including the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Olympic Park, which will host the Summer Olympics in 2016.

As they flew over Christ the Redeemer, the players caught a glimpse of Italian Fabio Fognini, who was on top of the statue taking a selfie in a separate tournament PR activity.

“It was amazing,” said Isner. “From the ground you know how beautiful Rio is, and it’s even more beautiful from up in the clouds. It was an amazing experience for me. It was my first time in a helicopter. There’s no better way to experience that than flying over Rio. Everything was amazing, but flying over Christ the Redeemer was spectacular. It’s a once in a lifetime thing, so I’m very happy I was able to do it.

“I’m excited to get going,” continued the American, who is set to make his debut at this ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tournament. “I’ve never been here before, so I’m very happy to be down here. I’m in a great mood and enjoying life. Win or lose, I’m going to have a good time out here.”

Home favourite and eighth seed Bellucci added, “It’s the first time I’ve seen Rio from the skies. I hope John and Jack enjoyed it. The views were very nice. It was fantastic to see the tourist points of Rio from the skies. I enjoyed it a lot.

“It’s amazing to come back every year and play at home,” continued the left-hander, who recently finished runner-up to Victor Estrella Burgos in Quito. “I like playing here. The crowd is always very nice to me. I hope to have a good week and play well. I’m pretty confident. I had a good week in Ecuador. I’ve been practising a lot. I hope to have another good result this week. It would be very special for me to have a good week here in Rio.”

The 23-year-old Sock, who will open his campaign against Federico Delbonis, said, “I’ve never been in a helicopter. You hear about all the amazing sights here and views. To be above it all and looking down on the city, over Christ the Redeemer and all the beaches, it’s absolutely incredible. The pictures I’ve got don’t do it justice, but it was definitely a lot of fun.

“I’m coming off a month-long illness. I came down with a few different symptoms in Auckland and it lasted for a while. Coming back off that, I feel pretty good. I’m happy to be on the clay, my favourite surface. Hopefully I can get some matches in and get my feet wet.”

Nicolas Mahut and Vasek Pospisil captured their first ATP World Tour doubles title together on Sunday as they defeated Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 7-6(2), 6-4 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

The French/Canadian duo prevailed at the ATP World Tour 500 indoor hard-court tournament in 79 minutes over Petzschner and Peya, who had knocked out top seeds and defending champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the semi-finals. After being thwarted on their first four break points, Mahut and Pospisil converted their fifth opportunity in the ninth game of the second set before serving out victory.

Playing together for just the second time after a first-round exit in Rotterdam last year, Mahut and Pospisil had saved one match point in a close semi-final win over Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

The 34-year-old Mahut captured his 11th tour-level doubles title. It is his second victory in Rotterdam, having lifted the trophy in 2014 with countryman Michael Llodra. Last year, Mahut claimed his first Grand Slam title at the US Open alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert before the French duo made their debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The 25-year-old Pospisil won his sixth ATP World Tour doubles crown. Four of his six titles have come alongside regular partner, Jack Sock, with whom he won the 2014 Wimbledon trophy.

Petzschner and Peya finished runners-up for the second time this season, having also lost in the Doha final in the first week of the season (l. to F. Lopez/ M. Lopez).

Nicolas Mahut and Vasek Pospisil saved a match point during a 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 10/4 win over Henri Kontinen and John Peers, advancing to the Rotterdam doubles final in their second tournament as a team. Mahut/Pospisil had joined forced in Rotterdam last year, but fell in the opening around against Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Mahut showed great resilience in returning to the court shortly after losing a tightly contested singles semi-final against Martin Klizan.

“We’re happy we got through today,” Pospisil said after the match. “We had chances in the first set so it was disappointing to lose that one but we competed well and stayed patient. After winning that second set we took the momentum into the third and played a great Match Tie-break.

“Nico and I are enjoying this week and it’s a pleasure playing with such a great guy. We’re going to go into the final tomorrow with the same energy, play our games, and take it to our opponents.”

In the doubles final, the French-Canadian duo will take on Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya, who edged top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-6(5), 3-6, 11/9. The favourites held three match points at 9-6 in the Match Tie-break, but Petzschner/Peya reeled off five straight points to shock the defending champions.

“I think it was a very high level match that came down to a few points in the end,” said Peya. “Being down 6-9 in the breaker you always need a little luck as well, but we stayed positive and tried to hang in until the last point. Tomorrow will be another very tough one and we need to bring our best again, but we are looking forward very much.”

Cervantes/Lorenzi To Face Top Seeds In Buenos Aires
Inigo Cervantes and Paolo Lorenzi downed Argentines Federico Delbonis and Andres Molteni 7-6(5), 7-5 to set up a final encounter against top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. The Spanish-Italian duo improved to 3-1 as a team after falling in the first round of Quito last week (l. to Bellucci/Demoliner) in their first outing.

Memphis Final Set

Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez survived a marathon two-hour and four-minute semi-final encounter against Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin 6-7(7), 7-5, 15-13. The Polish-Mexican duo saved three match points.

There seems to be no stopping Taylor Fritz this week at the Memphis Open. The 18-year-old American put himself in elite company on Saturday, rallying past Ricardas Berankis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first ATP World Tour final.

At 18 years and three months, Fritz became the youngest American to reach a tour-level final since then 17-year-old Michael Chang won the Wembley 1989 crown. He is also the first American teenager in a title match since Andy Roddick finished runner-up in Montreal in 2002, and is the second teen finalist on the ATP World Tour this year, following Borna Coric‘s run in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka).

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Fritz. “To be here and think that it’s the final is crazy. I’m really excited that I got to this level and I’ve proven myself that I belong here.

“It’s amazing to have this support. I feel so loved here. It’s the best feeling in the world. I owe a lot to the crowd pumping me up.”

Fritz was on the ropes early as Berankis ran away with the opening set behind three breaks of serve. But the wild card shed his nerves as the match progressed. Cool under pressure as he has been all week, Fritz stayed the course after being broken to love in the seventh game of the second set. He broke back immediately and would force a decider. In the third, the 18 year old earned a pair of breaks on Berankis double faults, eventually closing it out on his fifth match point after one hour and 41 minutes.

“I honestly felt he was unbeatable in the first set,” Fritz added. “He was making me look awful. I didn’t think there was much I could do. I tried to change things up in my game. He was returning my serves and putting me on defence. In the second set, I told myself that the way I was serving wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to crank it up a lot. I started hitting my serves 5-10 miles per hour faster. That was the biggest difference. Once I was holding my serve, it put pressure on him. That’s what allowed me to play my game more and allowed me to win.”

Fritz, who closed his 2015 campaign with two ATP Challenger Tour titles (Sacramento & Fairfield) in three finals and opened 2016 with a win in Happy Valley, Australia, is making a seamless transition to the ATP World Tour. Competing in just his third tour-level event, he is already well ahead of the curve:

Tournaments Played To Reach First Final (current Top 10)

The California native’s rise to the precipice of the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings is astounding, having resided at World No. 935 a year ago. He is bidding to become the first teen to earn an ATP World Tour title since Marin Cilic in New Haven 2008, when he battles either top seed Kei Nishikori or fellow American Sam Querrey on Sunday. The most recent American winner in Memphis was Andy Roddick in 2011. Roddick, Andre Agassi and Stefan Edberg are the lone teenage champions in the 40-year history of the ATP World Tour 250 event.

Berankis, meanwhile, was competing in his second ATP World Tour semi-final, following a run to the last four in Los Angeles 2012.

“I was very close,” said Berankis. “I played very well in the first set. Everything was working. In the second set, I started to play a little more careful and Taylor took his chances and was all over me… You always have to keep up the plan and continue the same way throughout the match.”