Mektic/Pavic Title Chase Continues In Dubai

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have the chance to put things right at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday.

The Croatians agonisingly lost out to Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in two tie-breaks in the 2021 final, but the top pairing in the ATP Rankings has another shot at lifting the trophy in the U.A.E after coming through a stern semi-final test against John Peers and Filip Polasek on Friday.

Mektic and Pavic were forced to stay cool under pressure as they saved all five break points they faced in their 6-4, 7-5 victory, winning 80 per cent (32/40) of points behind their first serves in the match.

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Standing between them and a first ATP Tour title of 2022 in Saturday’s final will be fourth seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus, after they came through a Match Tie-break against American-French duo Austin Krajicek and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 5-7, 6-3, 10-7.

Rolex Paris Masters champions Puetz and Venus are seeking their first win over Mektic and Pavic, who won the only previous meeting between the teams in Vienna last year.

No Play On The Santiago Clay
There was no doubles action at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open on Friday as both spots in the championship match were set by walkovers. Top-seeded Brazilian pairing Rafael Matos and Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves will face Swedish-American pairing Andre Goransson and Nathaniel Lammons in Saturday’s final, after their respective opponents both withdrew from the semi-finals.