Rojer/Tecau's London Hopes Hit In Basel
Rojer/Tecau's London Hopes Hit In Basel
Top seeds head to Paris on the outside looking in
Robert Lindstedt and Michael Venus dented Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau’s London hopes on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The Swede/Kiwi pairing saved seven of nine break points to come back to defeat Rojer/Tecau 1-6, 3-6, 10-8 in the semi-finals.
Lindstedt/Venus will face either second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin or fourth seeds Marcel Granollers and Jack Sock in the Basel final.
Rojer/Tecau are the defending champions at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but they’re in danger of missing the cut this season. Rojer/Tecau are currently No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London, one spot outside of qualification. The top eight doubles teams at the end of the season will qualify for the year-end championships, to be held 13-20 Nov. at The O2 in London.
View The Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London
The top seeds breezed through the opening set, earning their two breaks. But Lindstedt/Venus converted on their lone break point in the second set to even the match. They then capitalised on the momentum shift by racing to a 7-1 lead in the Match Tie-break and closed out the win in 67 minutes.
Vienna Doubles Final Set
Fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo ended Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan’s career milestone celebration at the Erste Bank Open 500. On Friday, the Americans beat Pablo Cuevas and Viktor Troicki in the quarter-finals in Vienna to become the first team to reach 1,000 doubles team match wins in ATP World Tour history.
But Kubot/Melo won nearly 80 per cent of their first-serve points to beat the Bryan brothers 4-6, 6-2, 12-10 and reach the Vienna final. Kubot/Melo will face Barclays ATP World Tour Finals hopefuls Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin on Sunday. Marach/Martin entered Saturday in 11th place in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London.