Mektic & Birthday Boy Baker Blast To Budapest Title

Brian Baker celebrated his 32nd birthday in style, claiming the doubles title at the inaugural Gazprom Hungarian Open alongside Nikola Mektic.

Baker and Mektic prevailed 7-6(2), 6-4 over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Budapest, needing one hour and 27 minutes to secure their second team title on the ATP World Tour. Also the champions at the Memphis Open in February, they improved to 2-0 in tour-level finals together.

The fourth seeds were ruthless on serve, dropping just 17 of 65 points in the final encounter. They took the first set in a tie-break and broke immediately at love to open the second, before eventually emerging victorious on their second match point.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present,” said Baker. “Turning 32 today, it’s going to be my best year yet. This really validates our Memphis win. We haven’t played that many tournaments and sometimes you can do well early [in a partnership], but winning again shows we’re a really good team.”

Baker and Mektic claimed 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €26,110. It was Baker’s second career title in two finals, while Mektic notched his second in three finals. They are 10-2 as a team this year.

“It was a very good week,” said Mektic. “Today was our best match. I’m happy to win the title. It’s a great city and I think they did a really good job for a first-time tournament.”

Third seeds Cabal and Farah were contesting their 20th ATP World Tour doubles final together, dropping to 9-11. In February, they won the Buenos Aires title (d. Gonzalez/Marrero). The Colombian tandem take home 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €13,730 in prize money.