Murray/Soares Start Grass Season Perfectly

Second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares completed a perfect beginning to their grass-court seasons on Sunday, beating fourth seeds Mate Pavic and Oliver Marach 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-5 to win the MercedesCup doubles title in Stuttgart.

Murray/Soares dropped only four points on their first serve (44/48) and saved both break points. Neither team broke in the first set but Marach/Pavic won the final three points of the tie-break to claim the opener.

In the second set, Murray/Soares broke at 5-5 then served out the set to even the final. The duo ran away with the match tie-break, sprinting to a 6/1 lead before clinching their second crown of the season.

“Very tough win. The court is playing fast, so not easy. Everyone is serving well so not many chances,” Soares said. “We stayed strong, kept serving well and played a great game at 5-5 to break and played a great ‘breaker.”

Murray/Soares also won the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title in Acapulco in March. In January, they fell in the Apia International Sydney final (l. to Koolhof/Middelkoop). They have won five titles since coming together at the start of last season.

“We had a few close losses this year and it was nice to see it through and get it over the line and get another trophy,” Murray said.

Murray has now won 18 tour-level doubles titles; Soares, 25. They will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €34,160 in prize money.

“That’s amazing,” Soares said of winning his 25^th tour-level doubles title. “To be honest, never thought I’d reach these numbers. Twenty-five is amazing. Hopefully I can make it to 50.”

Marach/Pavic were playing in their first ATP World Tour doubles final as a team. They started playing together in March at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Miami.

Marach falls to 15-19 in ATP World Tour doubles finals; Pavic, 6-11. The finalists will receive 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and €17,960.