Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers have clinched their first ATP World Tour title as a pairing at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Dutch wild card team Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop.

Dodig/Granollers, playing just their second event together, had dispatched top seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert for a place in the Rotterdam final, whilst Koolhof/Middelkoop were looking to add to their Apia International Sydney trophy they won last month.

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With no breaks, a tie-break was required to separate these in-form pairings in the opening set and the third seeds managed to edge ahead. They struck instantly in set two to build a 2-0 lead, an advantage they maintained until closing out the title in 73 minutes.

“We have played some amazing tennis together. We played some great matches at the Australian Open, played the quarter-finals and lost a tough match to the Bryans,” said Dodig after they claimed the title without dropping a set. “I am really happy the way we are playing and hopefully we can continue this level.”

The Rotterdam champions secured 500 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings Points and €111,890 in prize money. Dodig landed his seventh tour-level doubles trophy, Spaniard Granollers took his tally to 14.

“I am very happy,” said Granollers. “We played great tennis all week in all of the matches. Without a doubt, it has been a great start with Ivan, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and winning an [ATP World Tour] 500 title. We are very happy with our form.”

Koolhof/Middelkoop were bidding to become the first Dutch duo to win on home soil in Rotterdam since Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis in 1998, but still leave with 300 ranking points and €54,780 prize money.

Nikoloz Basilashvili raced through the latter stages of his Memphis Open semi-final on Saturday and into his second ATP World Tour final, weathering a marathon opening set to advance past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(5), 6-1.

“The more matches you play, the more you get used to playing in these important moments,” said Basilashvili. “I have really good energy at the moment and am enjoying being on the court, so I hope to keep this level going.”

Awaiting Basilashvili in the final is the winner between Americans Ryan Harrison and Donald Young.

The Georgian player hasn’t lost a set this week and has been enjoying a hot streak on indoor hard courts, recording a semi-final finish last week in Sofia (l. Dimitrov).  He’s now one win from his first ATP World Tour title after finishing runner-up in his maiden final this past July in Kitzbuehel (l. Lorenzi). Currently at a career-high No. 67 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, a win on Sunday would put Basilashvili inside the Top 50.

Basilashvili and Kukushkin battled through a 78-minute opening set, with several games featuring multiple deuces. Little separated the two players through the tie-break, but some impressive scrambling from Basilashvili at 5/5 drew two errors from Kukushkin and gave the Georgian the early advantage. Losing the set appeared to flatten Kukushkin’s spirit, while Basilashvili raised his level further and began pinning his opponent well behind the baseline. The Georgian broke his opponent twice in the second set en route to prevailing in one hour and 46 minutes. 

DOUBLES

American Brian Baker and Croatian Nikola Mektic reached their first final of the year by defeating Australians Matthew Ebden/Bernard Tomic 7-6(1), 6-2. They will play the winner between second seeds Oliver Marach/Fabrice Martin and Americans Harrison/Steve Johnson.

Alexandr Dolgopolov has been a dominant force this week at the Argentina Open and the Ukrainian continued his strong form on Saturday, blasting past Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-2 to reach the final.

Dolgopolov has not relinquished a set in advancing to his seventh ATP World Tour final and first on the clay of Buenos Aires. He will contest his first title match in three years, since falling to Rafael Nadal in Rio de Janeiro in 2014, against either top seed Kei Nishikori or home hope Carlos Berlocq.

The 28 year old needed just 69 minutes to dispatch fourth seed Carreno Busta on a sunny afternoon on Court Guillermo Vilas. Dolgopolov settled down after being broken to love to open the match, breaking back immediately and turning aside the Spaniard’s four other chances in the encounter.

Dolgopolov’s successful week comes at an opportune time, having dropped 10 of 11 matches entering Buenos Aires. The World No. 66 will look to complete his resurgent run against either Nishikori or Berlocq in Sunday’s final.

Defeat for Carreno Busta, meanwhile, ends an eight-year run of Spaniards reaching the Buenos Aires final. The 25 year old was bidding to join Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo in that span.

Reigning Doubles Champs Survive
Defending champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah were made to work to book a return trip to the Buenos Aires final. The Colombian power stepped up with their backs against the wall, rallying past Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 4-6, 7-6(0), 10-3 in Saturday’s semis.

Bolelli and Fognini held a match point while serving for a spot in the final at 6-4, 6-5, but Cabal and Farah reeled off eight straight points to force a Match Tie-break and eventually advanced after one hour and 50 minutes. The top seeds will appear in their 18th ATP World Tour final together, facing Santiago Gonzalez and David Marrero on Sunday.