Gille/Vliegen Begin Pursuit Of Home Crown In Antwerp
Will this be the year that Belgian doubles stars Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen triumph on home soil?
Gille and Vliegen beat Marcelo Arevalo and Jonny O’Mara 6-4, 6-3 in 68 minutes on Wednesday to reach the second round of the European Open in Antwerp. The fifth seeds earned four service breaks and won 71 per cent of their second-serve points to advance.
Gille and Vliegen won three ATP Tour titles together last year (Bastad, Gstaad, Zhuhai) and they are pursuing their first trophy of 2020. The Belgians reached the semi-finals in Antwerp last year before losing against Nitto ATP Finals competitors Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in a Match Tie-break. They will next play Brits Daniel Evans and Cameron Norrie.
[WATCH LIVE 1]In other first-round action, Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop beat fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 6-4, 6-4. Murray and Skupski began the week in eighth place in the FedEx ATP Battle For London with four spots remaining in the doubles field at the season finale in London.
Second seeds John Peers and Michael Venus reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez. The Aussie-Kiwi duo are sixth in the Battle.
Melzer/Roger-Vasselin Continue London Pursuit In Cologne
Fourth seeds Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Santiago Gonzalez and Ken Skupski 6-1, 7-6(2) to reach the second round of the bett1HULKS Championship in Cologne. Last week’s St. Petersburg Open champions are trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time as a team.
Also advancing were second seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, who ousted Tennys Sandgren and Divij Sharan 6-4, 6-2. Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald, last week’s Forte Village Sardegna Open champions, beat wild cards Daniel Altmaier and Oscar Otte 6-4, 6-1.
FedEx ATP Battle For London: Doubles Standings
| Team | Points |
| 5. Wesley Koolhof/Nikola Mektic | 2,145 |
| 6. John Peers/Michael Venus | 1,810* |
| 7. Jurgen Melzer/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin | 1,535* |
| 8. Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski | 1,500* |
| 9. Max Purcell/Luke Saville | 1,425 |
| 10. Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah | 1,350 |
*Points entering this week’s play