Lipsky/Sharan Take Antwerp Crown

Maybe Scott Lipsky of the U.S. and Indian Divij Sharan should play together more often. In their first ATP World Tour tournament together, Lipsky/Sharan won the European Open in Antwerp, beating Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and Julio Peralta of Chile 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 in Sunday’s final.

Two weeks ago, Lipsky/Sharan reached the semi-finals of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and they raised their level in Belgium, especially in the big moments. The American/Indian pairing won all four matches in Match Tie-breaks.

“It was a great match. Those are two great friends of ours, so we’re happy to get through. It was fun to play against them,” Lipsky said.

 Watch Full Match Replays

Lipsky improved to 16-12 in tour-level doubles finals for his career. Sharan improved to 3-1.

“It was a great experience, playing here. It’s my first time in Belgium so I really enjoyed it,” Sharan said. “We had a great time on court. We played four very good matches so we’re really happy.”

The champions will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €31,910 in prize money.

Gonzalez/Peralta were playing together for the third consecutive week and posted another good result. They also made the semi-finals in Tokyo and the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Shanghai.

Gonzalez was playing in his 20^th career final (11-9) and was trying to extend his ATP World Tour title streak to eight consecutive years. Peralta was trying to win his fifth career tour-level doubles title (4-4). They will receive 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €16,780 in prize money.