Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo are the team to beat as the ATP World Tour shifts its focus to the Nitto ATP Finals. The Polish-Brazilian pair backed up their bid to finish the year as the No. 1 duo, notching a sixth title in total and third at the Masters 1000 level on Sunday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Kubot and Melo won a final battle over Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers 7-6(3), 3-6, 10/6, rallying from a 2/5 deficit in the Match Tie-break. They failed to convert on all six break points earned, but came up clutch in the big moments to claim victory after a marathon one hour and 55 minutes.

“We are the team that played the most Match Tie-breaks this year and we know how to play until the last point,” said Melo. “We have been playing really well and we did that at the right moment today.”

Dodig and Granollers did well to fight back after conceding the opening tie-break. The Croatian produced a pair of sensational shots to grab the lone break of the match for 4-2 in the second set. A return winner on a second serve into the body and a perfectly executed lob over Melo’s head gave them the lead and eventually the set. 

But Kubot and Melo would storm back to capture the Match Tie-break, rallying from 2/5 down. And they claimed two straight points with Granollers serving at 6/7, eventually notching their first match point on a Melo volley winner.

6 ATP Titles in ’17 ☑️
3 Masters 1000 titles in ’17 ☑️

The amazing year of Lukasz Kubot and @marcelomelo83 continues in Paris! ? pic.twitter.com/aPKI5qYhY8

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 5, 2017

“We know what we are here for and we’re always trying to work on our game,” added Kubot. “It’s going to be a great end to the season in London and we’re happy to reach that goal that we wanted to reach. We still want to improve and we look forward to the first match there.”

Kubot and Melo conclude the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London as the top team, with 8,740 points, and split €253,950 in prize money. They have won six titles thus far in 2017, adding to crowns at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 stops in Miami and Madrid, as well as on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Halle and Wimbledon.

It marks the fifth straight year in which a team has lifted at least three Masters 1000 trophies, with Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan doing so from 2013-15 and Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut achieving the feat last year.

Individually, 34-year-old Melo has won 28 doubles titles in his career, while 35-year-old Kubot has claimed a total of 20. It was Melo’s second Paris crown, having triumphed with Dodig in 2015.

Meanwhile, Dodig and Granollers will make the trip to London for the season finale despite the loss. They punched their ticket earlier in the week in Paris.

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On the eve of the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, the ATP is releasing three documentaries charting the race to qualify for the prestigious 21-and-under event, and profiling the players who will compete under the new rules and innovations at the Fiera Milano.

The Next Gen ATP Finals will take place from 7-11 November. Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Borna Coric, Jared Donaldson, Hyeon Chung and Daniil Medvedev will all compete.

The first episode – Next Gen: The Story So Far – is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video within the UK and US, with all global access to follow soon.

The start of the new tennis season in 2017 brought with it the challenge for players aged 21 and under to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. New tournament. New stars. Go behind the scenes as the race takes shape early in the year and get to know the leading contenders in locations from Ethiopia to California as new stars are born on the ATP World Tour. This is the story so far.

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The second episode completes the story of the Race To Milan and is available to watch in the UK and US on Amazon Prime Video, with all global access to follow soon, and through broadcasters worldwide.

Next Gen: The Coming Of Age details the Next Gen breakthrough on the ATP World Tour. Over the course of 2017 follow the players as they make remarkable leaps in the Emirates ATP Rankings throughout the season. See their development first hand on a month-to-month basis climaxing on the cusp of the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. Using a chronological timeline, revealing back stories, cutting edge graphics and exclusive tournament footage, Next Gen: Coming Of Age will demonstrate what a difference a year makes.

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The third episode introduces fans to the stars set to compete in Milan, as well as detailing the new rules and innovations to be trialled at this ground-breaking tournament. It will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and the US and through broadcasters worldwide* when it is released on Monday, 6 November.

Next Gen: The Final 8 will take a detailed look at the upcoming Next Gen ATP Finals. Learn about the innovative event and the rule changes that come with it and the setting in Milan. Meet the seven players who qualify directly and learn about the eight-player wildcard tournament for the eighth and final spot in the event. By incorporating interviews from many of tennis’ former and current stars, the excitement builds for the inaugural event. 

It’s what every player on the ATP Challenger Tour dreams of. The opportunity to take their game to the next level, and see all their hard work on the Challenger circuit translate to the ATP World Tour.

For Filip Krajinovic, that dream has become a reality in a flash. Many players competing on the ATP Challenger Tour have enjoyed great success in their transitions in 2017, with Denis Shapovalov, Damir Dzumhur and Yuichi Sugita streaking to career-highs in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Add Krajinovic to that list.

The Serbian, who owns a tour-leading 47 match wins and five titles at the Challenger level this year, is into his first ATP World Tour final at the Rolex Paris Masters. In just his second tour-level event of the season, he has sprinted to the title match as a qualifier, claiming a pair of Top 20 scalps along the way (Querrey, Isner).

One of the candidates for Comeback Player of the Year in the 2017 ATP Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, Krajinovic is projected to soar to at least a career-high No. 33 on Monday. That’s more than 200 spots in less than one year, having opened the season outside the Top 200 following surgery to remove a bone in his right wrist. 

“I suffered a lot and I’ve had a lot of injuries in my career,” said Krajinovic. “But I stayed calm. I knew that one day everything will come back. I didn’t believe it’s going to happen this year, this tournament. Coming from qualies it’s an amazing feeling. Now I’m Top 40 in the world. I didn’t expect that also. My goal was to be Top 100 at the end of the year. And now, I’m just happy and emotions are big.

“A couple years ago I was starting to play better and better and I broke into the Top 100. Then all of a sudden they saw that I have an extra bone in my wrist. So I had to take care of that. It was hard. It was mentally really tough because getting older and older, all the sponsors said no to me. It was hard for me, but my family stayed with me and now I’m here.”

Players To Win On Both Circuits In 2017

*Krajinovic is bidding to become the first player to win a Challenger title and a Masters 1000 title in the same season 

Krajinovic has taken the ATP Challenger Tour by storm this year, in his quest to build his position in the Emirates ATP Rankings and rediscover his top level. A title on the clay of Heilbronn, Germany, as a qualifier, was followed by success in Marburg, Germany and Biella, Italy, during the summer months. Just one month ago, Krajinovic added crowns in Rome and Almaty, Kazakhstan, with both titles coming without dropping a set.

“It was my goal to play Challengers this year and get some confidence for the ATP World Tour,” said Krajinovic. “I didn’t expect to win five titles from five finals, but I believe that if I didn’t do well in the Challengers, I would not have the confidence here in Paris. I’m proud and happy for that.”

Krajinovic has been the centerpiece of an impressive Challenger movement for the nation of Serbia this year. A total of 12 titles from five different players has been a bright spot in Novak Djokovic’s absence. Janko Tipsarevic has lifted four trophies, with Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic and Miomir Kecmanovic each hoisting one. At 18, Kecmanovic is the country’s #NextGenATP hopeful, claiming his maiden crown last week in Suzhou, China.

Filip Krajinovic picks up his fourth #ATPChallenger ? of the season, defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 64 63 in Rome. Joins fellow ?? @TipsarevicJanko as lone players with four titles in 2017. pic.twitter.com/z4KYU9qlqh

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 1, 2017

Krajinovic has reached the final of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in just his fifth attempt. Only Jerzy Janowicz had fewer main draw appearances at the level (2) when he broke through in Paris 2012. In addition, he joins Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Albert Ramos-Vinolas as players making their Masters 1000 final debuts this year. 

But with all his success this week, Krajinovic believes it is icing on the cake after completing such a dominant Challenger campaign. He is looking to turn the page on what has been a tumultuous career and provide Serbia with a new superstar.

“My goal this year was to play Challengers to pick up the points for the next year to play against those guys. I wanted to play the smaller tournaments to pick up the [Emirates ATP Rankings] points and I did that. I said now I’m going to just play ATPs all the time. 

“I know I have the game that’s for sure. I just need to believe and to play with those guys every week. So next year it’s going to be like that, playing with those guys. I’m going to be ready and then we’ll see.”

Jack Sock and Filip Krajinovic have written their own fairytales at the Rolex Paris Masters. But only one can complete their dream run in Sunday’s final, the last ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match of the season.

The American right-hander entered the event at No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with little hope of qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals. In the second round, which was Sock’s opener, he found himself down 1-5 in the third set against Kyle Edmund before rallying to advance. Now, he is into his first Masters 1000 final.

“To be completely honest, I had no idea I could still make London even if I was to win the tournament. I didn’t know if I was going to be even close. I had a good start to the year and a very bad middle and towards the end of the year. To be able to regroup and get that confidence back and play some of the tennis I’ve been able to play in the last few matches is big for me,” Sock said after his semi-final win against home favourite Julien Benneteau. “I should have been out first round here, in my first match, so I’m kind of just playing with house money now as you’d say. And just enjoying it.”

If Sock triumphs on Sunday, he will soar up the Race standings to earn the eighth berth in the year-end finale. If Krajinovic finishes off his dream week, Pablo Carreno Busta will qualify for London. The last time a player qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals by needing to win the Paris title was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008 (d. Nalbandian).

Krajinovic has had his own magical run in Paris. The Serbian started his week in qualifying, having won just one tour-level match all season. But that turned around quickly, as he beat two of the Top 10 seeds (No. 9 Isner and No. 10 Querrey) to reach his first ATP World Tour final. He can become the eighth first-time champion this season.

“The emotions are amazing. It was a tough mental match…when I served for the match, my hand was shaking. It was tough to control the emotions, but I knew I have to stay aggressive all the way to the end. I did it, and it’s the best day in my life,” Krajinovic said. “But the tournament is not over yet. I’ll prepare for tomorrow.”

The matchup between Sock and Krajinovic, who are both 25, is the second Masters 1000 final this season featuring two players born in the 1990s. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Grigor Dimitrov (26) beat Nick Kyrgios (22). The last time two players debuting in a Masters 1000 final played each other in Paris was in 2012, when David Ferrer beat qualifier Jerzy Janowicz for his first Masters 1000 title.

This will be the first meeting on the ATP World Tour between the two, although Sock won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of a 2014 ATP Challenger Tour event in Savannah, Georgia (l. to Kyrgios in final).

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Sock vs. Krajinovic

Sock is trying to become the first American to win the Rolex Paris Masters since Andre Agassi in 1999 (d. Safin) and is on the verge of several career firsts. If he defeats Krajinovic, Sock will:

+ Capture his first Masters 1000 title 

+ Become the first American to win an ATP Masters 1000 title since fellow Nebraska native Andy Roddick seven years ago in Miami

+ Earn the final spot for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London (the first American to qualify in singles since Mardy Fish in 2011)

+ Win a personal-best three ATP World Tour singles titles in a season (Paris would be his first singles title in Europe and his first indoor trophy)

+ Break into the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 9 (improving his year-end ranking for a seventh-straight year)

+ Finish as the No. 1 American for the first time in his career

Krajinovic is appearing in his first ATP World Tour final and if he defeats Sock, he will:

+ Become the first qualifier to win a Masters 1000 title since Albert Portas won in Hamburg in 2001 (Portas was also the last player to win his maiden ATP World Tour title at a Masters 1000 event)

+ Become the first qualifier to win the Rolex Paris Masters in tournament history (since 1986)

+ Post wins over the Top 3 Americans in Paris: Querrey (2R), Isner (SF) and Sock (F)

+ Will jump from No. 77 to a career-high No. 25 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (No. 33 with a loss in the final)

+ Will become the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 champion since Hamburg in 1996 when No. 143 Roberto Carretero beat Alex Correjta to win the title. The last Masters 1000 champion outside Top 50 was No. 57 Chris Woodruff 20 years ago in Montreal (d. Kuerten)

+ Will join Novak Djokovic (30) as only Serbians to win a Masters 1000 singles title

+ Will earn €853,430 ($990,610 USD), more than doubling his career prize money ($860,429) coming into Paris

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