Marach/Pavic Bolster London Chances

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic picked up crucial points in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London on Sunday with their first ATP World Tour team title.

The top seeds came through indoors at the Intrum Stockholm Open, beating second seeds Aisam–Ul–Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer 3-6, 7-6(6), 10-4.

Marach/Pavic will gain 100 more points in the London standings, pushing them to within 100 of eighth-placed Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, who hold the lone remaining qualification spot as only two weeks remain in the Race. The top eight doubles team will qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London. Marach/Pavic are seeking to make their debut at the prestigious tournament.

See Who’s Leading The Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London

The Austrian/Croatian pairing had fallen in their three prior finals, all this season and all on grass: Stuttgart (l. to Murray/Soares), Antalya (l. to Lindstedt/Qureshi) and Wimbledon (l. to Kubot/Melo).

But for the third consecutive match, the top seeds played big in a Match Tie-break to win. Marach/Pavic won six of their seven service points in the Match Tie-break. They improved to 27-17 on the season since partnering at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami in March.

Marach is now 17-21 for his career in tour-level doubles finals; Pavic, 8-13. The champions will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €31,910 in prize money.

Qureshi/Rojer were playing together for the first time since the 2013 Nitto ATP Finals. They are now 4-4 in finals together. They will receive 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €16,780.