Top Seeds Into Doubles Final
Austrians Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya downed Russian wild cards Andrey Rublev and Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to move into the final of the St. Petersburg Open. The second seeds converted on all four break opportunities and only dropped serve once in the 63-minute victory.
On Sunday, Knowle/Peya will attempt to win their first team title against top seeds Treat Huey and Henri Kontinen, who defeated Aliaksandr Bury and Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-5 in 69 minutes.
French Contingent Stars In Metz
Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut edged No. 4 seeds Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky 6-4, 4-6, 10-3 to move into the Metz final on Saturday. The US Open champions were broken in the final game of the second set, but raced to an 8-0 lead in the Match Tie-break and booked a spot in the final after 76 minutes.
On Sunday, the Frenchmen will face compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who teamed up with Poland’s Lukasz Kubot to defeat Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 7-5, 7-6(5) in 95 minutes. The second seeds put 82 per cent of first serves in play and saved two of three break points faced against the third seeds.