Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez raised the Argentine flag in Morocco, claiming their first ATP World Tour team title on Saturday.

Duran and Gonzalez fought off Marin Draganja and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 to prevail after one hour and 22 minutes at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech. The first Argentine duo to lift an ATP World Tour trophy since Carlos Berlocq and Eduardo Schwank in Stuttgart 2010, they fired four aces and converted two of five break chances.

“I’m very happy about this victory,” said Gonzalez. “We had a great week. Guillermo is a good friend of mine and it feels great to win this title together. Today was a very tough match and we are proud to leave with the trophy.”

Having previously notched five ATP Challenger Tour titles from eight finals, Duran and Gonzalez were competing in just their second tour-level event together. Individually, Duran won his second crown, following a successful run on the clay of Quito (w/Carreno Busta) in February. Gonzalez staked claim to his third doubles title following success in Valencia 2008 (w/Monaco) and Umag 2015 (w/Sa).

“We’ve played a lot of Challengers together but this was only our second ATP World Tour event together,” Duran added. “We enjoyed Marrakech a lot, the whole team here is great and very helpful. It was a pleasure and we will come back for sure.”

The Argentine tandem leave with €25,070 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points. Draganja and Qureshi, who split €13,170 and 150 points for their efforts, were vying for their first team title in their debut together. The Croat falls to 4-4 in ATP World Tour finals, while the Pakistani drops to 11-15.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has been pitted in the same half of the draw as Roger Federer as he aims to retain his title and clinch a third crown at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

The Serb defeated Tomas Berdych last year to add to the title he won in 2013, when he beat Rafael Nadal. Djokovic comes into the third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season having lost just one match in 2016, lifting trophies in Doha, the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami.

The 28-year-old Djokovic will look to extend his Masters 1000 domination and win a 29th crown at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. The Belgrade native has reached the final at every Masters 1000 tournament since 2014 Shanghai, where he was beaten in the semi-finals by Federer.

And it could be a semi-final meeting for Djokovic with Federer in Monte-Carlo, should both men advance. It would be their 46th encounter, with Djokovic edging into a 23-22 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry after beating the Swiss in the Australian Open semi-finals.

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Djokovic opens his campaign against either Jiri Vesely, who is in the Marrakech semi-finals later today, or Teymuraz Gabashvili. The right-hander is projected to meet 13th seed Gael Monfils in the third round and could face eighth seed David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.

Ferrer, who reached the Monte-Carlo final in 2011 (l. to Nadal), is in the same section of the draw as #NextGen players Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, who face each other in the first round. The in-form David Goffin, fresh from semi-finals in Indian Wells and Miami, could also challenge Ferrer for a quarter-final spot.

Federer is set to play his first tournament since undergoing arthroscopic surgery for a meniscal tear in his left knee after the Australian Open. The 34-year-old Swiss is looking to add the Monte-Carlo crown to his collection of 24 Masters 1000 trophies; he reached the final in 2006 (l. to Nadal), 2007 (l. to Nadal), 2008 (l. to Nadal) and 2014 (l. to Wawrinka).

Federer begins against Thomaz Bellucci or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, with the possibility of Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. Both eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and ninth seed Richard Gasquet could pose a threat to Federer in the quarter-finals.

Second seed Andy Murray, eight-time champion Nadal, 2014 winner Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych headline the bottom half of the draw.

New father, Murray, is looking to reach the Monte-Carlo final for the first time, after semi-final efforts in 2009 and 2011 (l. to Nadal). The Scot opens his campaign against either a qualifier or Guido Pella and could meet 16th-seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire in the third round.

Murray is projected to face the sixth-seeded Berdych in the quarter-finals, but the Czech must first advance through a section that includes fellow Monaco resident Milos Raonic, who enjoyed strong results in March with a final showing in Indian Wells and the quarter-finals in Miami.

Nadal and Wawrinka find themselves on a collision course in arguably the most challenging section of the draw. The 29-year-old Nadal has a 53-4 tournament record in Monte-Carlo, with his last title coming in 2012 (d. Djokovic).

Nadal faces Lukas Rosol or Aljaz Bedene in his opening second-round match before the prospect of a third-round clash with 12th seed Dominic Thiem, who beat the Spaniard in February when the pair met on clay in the Buenos Aires semi-finals.

Fourth seed Wawrinka, who won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown with victory at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in 2014, is looking to bounce back after a surprise second-round exit in Miami (l. to Kuznetsov). The Swiss faces a tough draw though, beginning against either #NextGen star Borna Coric – in the Marrakech semi-finals – or Philipp Kohlschreiber. He then has the possibility of Gilles Simon or Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.

Main draw play begins on Sunday in Monte-Carlo.

Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will play for their sixth Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship title on Saturday.

The top seeds reached their second final of 2016 as they defeated fourth-seeded countrymen Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey 7-6(5), 6-3 on Friday afternoon. They saved all four break point chances faced on serve, while capitalising on two of their four opportunities.

The Bryans are looking to win their 110th team title and first since the Rogers Cup in August. They have won five titles (2007, ’09-11, ’14) in their past seven visits to Houston, and have a 35-8 record at this ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Argentines Advance In Marrakech

Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez advanced to the title match at the Grand Prix Hassan II when they defeated third seeds Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 in one hour and 46 minutes. They will challenge Marin Draganja and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi on Saturday.

Former champion Juan Monaco knocked out fifth seed Sam Querrey to kick off quarter-final action on Friday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co US Men’s Clay Court Championship. The 32-year-old Argentine won 6-4, 6-4 to improve his record against the American to 5-1.

The Tandil native, who previously hoisted the trophy in Houston in 2012 (d. Isner), survived six aces from his opponent and saved all three break points faced to reach the semi-finals in 74 minutes. He next faces the winner of third seed Feliciano Lopez and Tim Smyczek.

In action later, top seed John Isner takes on NextGen’s Hyeon Chung and Jack Sock continues his title defence against seventh seed Marcos Baghdatis.

Did You Know?

At least one American has reached the quarter-finals every year since the US Men’s Clay Court Championships relocated to Houston in 2001. This is the fifth year that four or more Americans have reached the last eight in Houston, but just the second time since 2001 that Americans are in contention for all four semi-final berths (also 2003).