Rojer/Tecau End Mahut/Herbert's Winning Streak

Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert’s quest for ATP World Tour Masters 1000 history came to a halt on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open. No. 3 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau took out the No. 1 seeds in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3) to end the Frenchmen’s 16-match winning streak and advance to the Madrid doubles final.

“We’re really happy to put together another good match. Three in a row this week,” Tecau said. “Now we’ve given ourselves a chance to play the final and fight for the title here in Madrid.”

Rojer/Tecau erased both break points faced and broke the Frenchmen twice to move into their first team ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. Tecau lost in the Madrid final in 2012 with Robert Lindstedt. Rojer/Tecau also won 86 per cent of their first-serve points. “It’s one of our goals – to win a Masters (1000),” Tecau said.

The Frenchmen were trying to become the first doubles team to win the first four Masters 1000 events in the same year. In the quarter-finals, they already had beaten the last team that came close to the feat, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who lost in the Madrid final in 2014.

Rojer/Tecau will play Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea in Sunday’s final. Rojer/Tecau will be going for their first title of 2016 and their 12^th in the past three years.