Bryan/Roger-Vasselin Overcome Marach/Pavic In Vienna Semi-finals

Mike Bryan and Edouard Roger-Vasselin advanced to their second tour-level final of the season on Saturday, overcoming top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-7 at the Erste Bank Open 500.

In just their second tournament appearance as a team, Bryan and Roger-Vasselin won 82 per cent of first-serve points and captured 14 of 24 second-serve return points to advance after one hour and 36 minutes. On their team debut at the Citi Open in August, the American-French duo posted a runner-up finish after falling in a Match Tie-break to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

Marach and Pavic, who lead the ATP Doubles Race To London, were aiming to reach their 10th tour-level championship match of the season (4-5). The Austrian-Croatian duo won its first 17 matches of the year, picking up trophies in Doha, Auckland and at the Australian Open. Marach and Pavic lifted their most recent trophy at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open in May.

Bryan and Roger-Vasselin will meet Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski for the title. The British duo booked its spot in the championship match on Friday, ending Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo’s 10-match winning streak with a comeback 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 triumph.

Zverev Brothers Advance In Basel
Despite falling in the singles semi-finals, Alexander Zverev kept his hopes of lifting silverware at the Swiss Indoors Basel alive on Saturday evening. The 21-year-old combined with brother Mischa Zverev to defeat Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak 6-1, 6-3. The German duo progressed to its sixth tour-level championship match (1-4) after 59 minutes. The brothers saved all five break points they faced en route to victory.

The Gerry Weber Open finalists (l. to Kubot/Melo) will face Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor in Sunday’s final. Inglot and Skugor defeated Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos 5-7, 6-3, 10-6, firing 15 aces to advance after 86 minutes. The British-Croatian duo is undefeated in tour-level finals (2-0), following victories earlier this season in Budapest and s’Hertogenbosch.