Molteni/Jebavy Capture Kitzbühel Title

Roman Jebavy and Andres Molteni lifted their first tour-level team title on Saturday, beating Daniele Bracciali and Federico Delbonis 6-2, 6-4 at the Generali Open.

Jebavy and Molteni won 75 per cent of first-serve points and saved four of five break points to overcome their opponents after 65 minutes. Both teams were competing in their maiden tour-level finals as a team.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable today,” said Jebavy. “It feels great to play in front of such an amazing crowd. We had a great week here, both on and off the court. This is one of my favourite tournaments all year.”

Czech Jebavy has now captured three tour-level doubles crowns, finally scoring his first tour-level trophy of the season after runner-up finishes in Lyon (w/Middelkoop) and Umag (w/Vesely). Molteni improves to 5-2 in ATP World Tour championship matches with his second tour-level crown of the season. The 30-year-old also emerged victorious at the Argentina Open (w/Zeballos) in February.

Bracciali and Delbonis were bidding to clinch their first team title in just their second tour-level event as a duo. The Italian-Argentine tandem reached the 2014 Casablanca semi-finals on their only previous tour-level appearance.

Jebavy and Molteni capitalised on errors in important moments to take a one-set lead after 26 minutes. Bracciali double faulted on deciding point at 1-1 to gift an early break and after another double fault from Delbonis at 3-1 (40/30), Jebavy and Molteni once again broke through in a winner-takes-all point to strengthen their grip on the match.

Jebavy and Molteni held their nerve on deciding points early in the second set, firstly to hold serve for 1-1 before breaking through, once again, at 2-2 to secure a third break of serve. From there, Jebavy and Molteni raced to a 5-2 lead, winning eight of the next nine points to edge towards victory.

But Bracciali and Delbonis refused to lie down, replicating their opponents’ points streak to force Molteni to serve for the championship at 5-4. Fittingly, a deciding point was needed, and, as had been the case throughout the match, Jebavy and Molteni came out on top to emerge victorious.

“We had a tough start today and were a bit tight in the beginning of both sets,” admitted Molteni. “I’m very happy that we managed to win our first title together here.”

Jebavy and Molteni gain 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points and split €27,170 in prize money. Finalists Bracciali and Delbonis earn 150 points and share €14,280.