Third seeds Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop fought back from the brink of elimination to claim the inaugural Garanti Koza Sofia Open doubles title on Sunday.

The Dutch duo survived Philipp Oswald and Adil Shamasdin 5-7, 7-6(9), 10-6, staving off two championship points in the second set tie-break. It was both players’ first ATP World Tour doubles titles, rallying from a set down on three occasions during the week. They overcame a total five match points, having saved one against Dimitar Kuzmanov and Alexander Lazov in the first round and two more in beating countrymen Thiemo de Bakker and Robin Haase in the semis.

“They played really well in the beginning,” Koolhof said. “Then out of the blue we broke them and we started to return better and I think our returns made the difference in the end.”

Koolhof and Middelkoop, who split €25,070 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points, refused to surrender after falling behind a set and a break at 4-1 in the second. They would break back and force a tie-break, where they once again found themselves with their backs against the wall, facing match points at 7-6 and 9-8. A service winner would deny the first and a Koolhof putaway at the net turned aside the second. They would reel off nine of the last 12 points in the ensuing Match Tie-break to emerge victorious after one hour and 47 minutes.

It has been a strong start to the season for Koolhof and Middelkoop after winning the ATP Challenger Tour doubles crown in Bangkok last month. The tandem won seven Challenger doubles titles in 2015.

“I am not sure it is the best tactic but somehow it worked for us this week,” said Middelkoop. “We played really solid on all those match points. To win four Match tie-breaks in a row, at that level, is something special.

“Our hopes are for the bigger tournaments but we have to be realistic. We just came from Challengers, pretty much from Futures actually. To win a first ATP World Tour title is the first step to reach higher levels but higher levels mean tougher opponents, so we need new tactics to play against Top 30 guys.”

Oswald and Shamasdin, meanwhile, were bidding for their first title together. The Austrian fell to 3-3 in ATP World Tour doubles finals, while the Canadian dropped to 2-2.

Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Duran’s new partnership paid immediate dividends as the pair saved all eight break points faced to down Thomaz Bellucci and Marcelo Demoliner 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles final of the Ecuador Open Quito on Saturday.

Carreno Busta and Duran were playing together for the first time on the ATP World Tour and will split 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and $25,070. The unseeded Spanish-Argentinian team upended No. 2 seeds Purav Raja and Rajeev Ram in the opening round and No. 3 seeds Austin Krajicek and Nicholas Monroe in the semi-finals.

“We were having dinner together at the Australian Open, and I asked Pablo if he wanted to play in Quito together,” Duran said. “Perhaps it was a lucky break.”

“[Guillermo] is a good player with solid returns, serves and volleys, and with him we were a very complete team,” Carreno Busta noted. “It’s easy for me when my partner is playing well.

“We were a bit nervous at the start, since it was our first final. But we were able to take advantage of our opportunities.”

Bellucci and Demoliner had worked hard to get to the final, as all three of the Brazilians’ victories this week had come in Match Tie-breaks, including a quarter-final win over defending champions Gero Kretschmer and Alexander Satschko. Bellucci’s busy week in Quito continues, as he will be playing for the singles title on Sunday against Victor Estrella Burgos. The Brazilians will share 150 rankings points and $13,170.

In the final of the 2015 Argentina Open, Rafael Nadal topped good friend Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-1 for his 46^th career clay-court title and improved his tour-level record against the Argentine to 6-1. Next week, both player could meet again in Buenos Aires, this time in the second round.

Top seed Nadal will have a first-round bye, while Monaco can set up an eighth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with his occasional doubles partner by winning his first-round match against a qualifier. The pair won the 2015 Doha doubles title together, and finished runners-up at Vina Del Mar in 2013.

The 31 year-old Tandil native will hope that local support and some home cooking will help him overcome a one-sided rivalry against the Spaniard. Monaco’s only win against Nadal came when the latter retired from their second-round match in Cincinnati in 2007. Monaco has yet to win a set against Nadal on clay, and has been on the losing end of three 6-0 sets in their past three meetings.

On Saturday, Monaco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga visited Buenos Aires Playa, situated alongside the Rio Plata, to play mini tennis and interact with fans.  Tsonga is seeded third this year in Buenos Aires and Monaco, the 2007 champion, is playing in his first tournament since he sustained a season-ending wrist injury in Kitzbuhel 2015.  Monaco is very happy about the way his wrist feels and has been training hard in advance of his home event.

“These are new feelings after seven months away from the circuit, but I feel good after having a long time to recover,” Monaco said. “I’m thankful I can return here in Buenos Aires because it’s one of the tournaments I like the most.

“It’s a nice way to pass the time. It was very enjoyable to play with the kids. They are fans of tennis and it’s always fun to meet them and visit these beautiful spots around Buenos Aires.”

Estrella Burgos started the year with opening-round losses in Auckland and at the Australian Open, but found his rhythm on familiar grounds, improving to 9-0 in Quito. He is undefeated against his final opponent Thomaz Bellucci, winning 7-6(5), 7-5 in last year’s Quito semi-final and prevailing in their lone ATP Challenger Tour meeting (Bogota 2013).

“I’ve been feeling very well in Quito,” Estrella Burgos said. “The altitude and surface benefits me. I’m happy to have qualified to the final and I’ll try to win the title again. In these circumstances I will always feel like the favourite.

“Thomaz is a strong opponent, but not impossible to beat. He has good serve and good forehand. It will be an intense match because we are both warriors and we will give our best. I’ll have to serve well and take control with my forehand if I want to win. If I do that, I can beat anyone.” 

In the other semi-final, third seed Bellucci improved his record at the Ecuador Open Quito to 6-1 with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Pablo Lorenzi in the first semi-final on Saturday. The 28-year-old will play for his fifth ATP World Tour title on Sunday against Estrella Burgos in a rematch of last year’s semi-final match, which Estrella Burgos won 7-6(5), 7-5.

Bellucci came into the match trailing Lorenzi 0-2 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. He dropped serve twice to fall behind one set to love, but saved the next three break points faced and fought back to capture his first tour-level win against Lorenzi in just under two hours.

The No. 35 in the Emirates ATP Rankings is through to his seventh tour-level final (4-2). His last title came in May 2015 on the clay of Geneva (d. Cuevas). The Brazilian finished runner-up in the doubles draw alongside Marcelo Demoliner after losing to Pablo Carreno-Busta and Guillermo Duran in the final.

For the second straight year, Paul-Henri Mathieu is in an ATP World Tour final, advancing to the Open Sud de France title match with a gritty 7-6(11), 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev at The Parks & Suites Arena in Montpellier. Mathieu will face countryman and top seed Richard Gasquet on Sunday.

“I’m very happy with the win today,” said Mathieu. “It’s a great satisfaction to be in a final again. The last was in Kitzbuhel. To make another one in a couple of months is great for my confidence. Hopefully I will win tomorrow.” 

The 34-year-old Mathieu downed 18-year-old Zverev in one hour and 55 minutes, claiming three of four break chances and firing 40 winners. After Zverev stormed back from a 0-3 deficit, the first set came down to a riveting tie-break, which featured 24 points. Mathieu would deny three set points and converted on his fourth as a Zverev mid-rally forehand found the net.

In the second set, the German would save a match point with Mathieu serving for it at 5-4, breaking to draw level. But the Frenchman would break back immediately to 15 with a backhand winner and closed out the match in the following game.

Mathieu advanced to his 10th ATP World Tour final and first since reaching the title match in Kitzbuhel last year as a qualifier (l. to Kohlschreiber). He exacted revenge on Zverev after the teenager prevailed in the final of the ATP Challenger Tour event on home soil in Braunschweig in 2014. The German was bidding to reach his first ATP World Tour final and join Borna Coric (Chennai) as teen finalists this year.

Gasquet, meanwhile, became the eighth active player to reach 25 tour-level finals and just the second Frenchman to do so in the Open Era (Yannick Noah), after turning in arguably the comeback of the year thus far. He prevailed 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Dustin Brown in one hour and 39 minutes, overcoming 17 aces by the German. Brown burst out of the gates, claiming nine of the first 10 games in 35 minutes, striking 27 winners. But as quickly as he surged ahead, Gasquet snatched the momentum in his corner, rallying from a 6-1, 3-0 deficit with a run of nine of the next 11 games to take the lead for good.

“I’m happy to fight a lot and I am happy to come back here to the final,” said Gasquet. “It was a great match for me to win.” 

The top seed and defending champion will feature in a fourth straight Montpellier final. He previously won the title in 2006 (d. Gicquel), ’13 (d. Paire) and ’15 (d. Janowicz). Gasquet and Mathieu will face off for the eighth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, with the former owning a 5-2 edge. It will be the first all-countrymen final on the ATP World Tour this year. There were four in 2015, including two with a pair of Frenchmen.

Sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi hit 25 aces to eliminate top seed Bernard Tomic 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Ecuador Quito Open on Friday. The Italian, appearing in his seventh ATP World Tour quarter-final on clay, used his experience to down Tomic (0-1 in clay QFs) in just over two hours. Lorenzi was propelled to victory by a strong serving performance. The World No. 59 won 91 per cent of first serve points against the Australian.

Facing Lorenzi in the semi-finals will be third seed Thomaz Bellucci, a 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-2 winner over Pablo Carreno Busta. The Brazilian, who has four career ATP World Tour clay-court titles, will appear in his first semi-final of the year.

Lorenzi holds a 2-0 edge in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Bellucci, with both wins coming on clay (2015 Buenos Aires and 2011 Rome). Bellucci took the pair’s lone ATP Challenger Tour meeting in a third-set tie-break against the Italian in 2013. That victory came in the quarter-finals of the Bogota Challenger on clay, in high-altitude conditions.

Defending champion Victor Estrella Burgos overcame stiff resistance from Renzo Olivo to win 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4. The Dominican, seeded fifth, won 101 points to his opponent’s 99 in the two-hour, 15-minute encounter. He is attempting to become the third player after Stan Wawrinka (Chennai) and Novak Djokovic (Australian Open) to successfully defend his title in 2016.

In the semi-finals, the Dominican will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who was up 7-5, 4-3 when Feliciano Lopez retired. Ramos-Vinolas was in the hospital on Wednesday due to illness and had to withdraw from doubles, but recovered to make the final four. Lopez was bidding for a 400^th tour-level victory.