Djokovic Bros Fall Short In Epic Match Tie-break in Doha

Novak Djokovic and Marko Djokovic entered the Qatar ExxonMobil Open having lost all five of their previous doubles matches together. But the brothers put together an impressive run this week, moving to the doorstep of a berth in the final, earning three match points against David Goffin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the semi-finals.

But Goffin and Herbert saved all of those match points to defeat Djokovic/Djokovic 6-1, 3-6, 15-13 on Thursday evening in 65 minutes. It is Goffin and Herbert’s second tournament together, after winning one match in Barcelona two years ago.

“We just got off the court, so it’s really tough. We both wanted to win badly and it hurts, this kind of loss,” said Djokovic, the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings. “David and Herbert are fantastic players. They blew us off the court in the first set and we managed to come back and to play at such a high level for us. it was amazing. It was a great feeling.

“Obviously, it is disappointing to be so close and not to be able to win, but again at the same time it was an amazing experience. I’m very grateful to live it with my brother.”

Goffin and Herbert captured 10 more points than Djokovic/Djokovic in the match. But the Serbians battled throughout the encounter, taking advantage of both break point chances they earned. And in the Match Tie-break, they trailed 1/5 and had match points at 11/10, 12/11 and 13/12  before ultimately falling short. The brothers had battled through Match Tie-breaks in their first two matches.

Goffin and Herbert will face Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop in the final. The Dutchmen beat Santiago Gonzalez and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-1. Haase/Middelkoop triumphed in Pune, Sofia and Umag — a trio of ATP 250 events — last year. They are seeking their fourth tour-level trophy as a team.

Did You Know?
Novak Djokovic has captured one ATP Tour doubles title in his career, lifting the trophy at the Fever-Tree Championships in 2010 in Jonathan Erlich. If he would have advanced to the Doha final with his brother, it would have been the World No. 1’s third tour-level doubles final.