London Push: Kubot/Melo Win Third Vienna Team Title
Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo earned a critical win in the FedEx ATP Battle For London on Sunday, defeating Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 7-6(5), 7-5 to win the Erste Bank Open title.
“It was a very tight match. We knew it would be. They are such a great team,” Melo said. “I think we managed to play as we have been playing since the beginning of the tournament and it was very good. I think the match was decided point-by-point, a couple no-Ads here and there. But I think experiencing all this good energy from Vienna made us get another title.”
Kubot and Melo began the week in 11th place in the Battle, but their triumph put them into eighth as they try to earn one of the four remaining qualifying places at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.
The third seeds were broken in their first service game of the match and they failed to serve for the championship at 5-3 in the second set, but they ultimately prevailed after one hour and 55 minutes. In addition to the important 500 points they earned, Kubot and Melo depart Austria with €40,500 to split.
“[This is a] very special place for us. It was another very good week here,” Kubot said. “We are very happy to end it that way and we are looking forward to going to the Masters [1000] in Paris. We are happy with the result we have done and we’ll keep going.”
Murray and Skupski, who began the week in ninth place in the Battle, were trying to win their first ATP Tour title together. Skupski won the 2018 Vienna title alongside Joe Salisbury. The Brits earned 300 points, helping them move into seventh place in the Battle. They will share €32,190 in prize money.