Krajicek/Inglot Lift ‘s-Hertogenbosch Trophy

Austin Krajicek and Dominic Inglot claimed their first team trophy on Saturday at the Libema Open, beating Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.

“I was really happy with the win today,” said Inglot. “The last month or so has been a difficult time for me, I haven’t had a lot of wins, but this was a first tournament playing with Austin and I thought this tournament we really gelled well.”

Competing for the first time as a team this week, Krajicek and Inglot won 74 per cent of first-serve points (31/42) and saved four of six break points to edge Daniell and Koolhof in 85 minutes. Inglot and Krajicek also needed a Match Tie-break in their 5-7, 6-3, 10-3 second-round victory against top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

“It was a big help to get an early break before the rain in the first set but then all the rain delays made it very tricky to get that momentum and keep going… In the second set, those guys really upped their level and it just came down to a [Match] Tie-break and who put a few extra returns in court,” said Inglot.

“In that [Match Tie-break] we managed to just be a little bit more consistent and step up a little bit more when we needed to. I think we are both really happy and that will give us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the grass-court season with Halle and Wimbledon coming up.”

Inglot has now won 12 doubles crowns from 22 tour-level championship matches. It is Krajicek’s second tour-level title, following his maiden triumph alongside Rajeev Ram at the VTB Kremlin Cup last year.

”It was great to get a win today,” said Krajicek. “Obviously, starting with a new partner, it is really good to start off that way. I think we did a lot of things well this week that we can build off of, but it feels really good to be back on the grass.”

Daniel and Koolhof were bidding to pick up their second team title of the season. The unseeded pairing, which defeated second seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in the second round, earned its first team trophy at the Brisbane International in January.

Krajicek and Inglot gain 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points and split €35,960 in prize money. Daniell and Koolhof earn 150 points and share €18,430.

Bopanna/Shapovalov Pass Aussie Test

Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov advanced to their first ATP Tour doubles final as a team at the MercedesCup. The unseeded duo, which defeated Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the first round, needed just 48 minutes to move past Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid 6-3, 6-4.

Bopanna and Shapovalov entered the event with a 3-2 team record, having competed together at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open presented by Itau in March. The Indian-Canadian tandem will meet top seeds John Peers and Bruno Soares in the championship match.