Mirnyi Claims Acapulco Crown With Huey, Closes In On 700 Wins

Former World No. 1 Max Mirnyi pulled to within two match wins from joining the ‘700 Club’ after capturing the doubles title at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Saturday with Treat Huey.

Fourth seeds Huey and Mirnyi defeated third seeds Alexander Peya and Philipp Petzschner 7-6(5), 6-3 in one hour and 26 minutes. The Belarusian-Filipino duo saved seven of eight break points, claiming victory in their first final together.

“I told Treat that even though we’ve only been together for two months, we’ve been through a lot,” Mirnyi said. “We’ve improved on our teamwork and things we need to do. Luckily today, in a big tournament like Acapulco, everything clicked. We played well at the same time which was important.

“The margins are so small in doubles, often coming down to Match Tie-breaks and we kept our focus on things we needed to do. It’s good to see it pay off so quickly… I’m thrilled and looking forward to having more productive weeks. I get a lot of joy in improving every week as a team.”

Individually, it was Mirnyi’s 49th doubles title and first since Beijing in 2013. He went one step further after finishing runner-up in Acapulco with Feliciano Lopez in 2014. For Huey, it was the former University of Virginia standout’s seventh career crown. He is now victorious in four straight ATP World Tour finals, with three different partners.

Peya and Petzschner raced to a 3-1 lead in the first set behind an early break, but Huey and Mirnyi fought back, drawing level at 4-4 before claiming the opener in a tie-break. They would break twice in the second set and seal the win on their first match point, taking home 500 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and splitting $94,800 in prize money. They had saved two match points in a first-round victory over Chris Guccione and Bernard Tomic and upset top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the semis.

“It was a tough first round match against Guccione and Tomic and we somehow came out with the win there 14-12 in the tie-break,” said Huey. “We took a lot of momentum from that. I was feeling pretty sick the first few days and could barely get out of bed, but as Max said we just need to find a way. We did and we’ve been playing great tennis all week. It’s great to win a title and we’re having fun. The tournament here in Acapulco is unbelievable.”

Playing in their fourth ATP World Tour final as a team, Peya and Petzschner fell to 0-4. The Austrian was seeking his 15th individual crown in 37 finals, while his German partner fell to 6-6 in title matches.