Koolhof/Mektic win Auckland, Ram/Salisbury take Adelaide crown

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Saturday, 13 January
Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic won their fourth Match Tie-break in as many matches to claim the men's doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland. The Dutch-Croatian duo defeated top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7 to earn the ATP 250 trophy on Saturday.

Both former World No. 1s in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, Koolhof and Mektic were playing in their first event together since winning the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals — where they beat Granollers and Zeballos in the semis. The duo is now 28-13 as a team.

"I'm extremely happy. It means so much," said Mektic. "Such close matches from the beginning of the tournament and we managed to win everything. For the first tournament for us of the year together, it's an amazing start and really looking forward to the next ones."

The 35-year-old Mektic, who won the 2023 Auckland title with Mate Pavic, retained the title with his new partner this season. His Auckland repeat matches Ben McLachlan's feat in 2019-20, also with two different partners.

The trophy is Mektic's 26th tour-level doubles crown and a 17th for the 34-year-old Koolhof.

Photo by Michael Errey/AFP via Getty Images

On Saturday at the Adelaide International, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury picked up where they left off in 2023 by winning their first event of the new season. The reigning Nitto ATP Finals and US Open champions defeated Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 7-5, 5-7, 11-9 in a dramatic final at the ATP 250 — repeating the results from their Lexus ATP Head2Head matchups in the 2023 US Open final and the Turin group stage.

"I don't think we've ever done that before," Salisbury said of the pair's first season-opening title triumph together. "That's a really nice way to start the year, especially after we had a good finish to last year, to carry on the momentum. We're really happy to get another title and feeling good going into the Grand Slam next week."

The American-British pair recovered from 5/7 and 7/8 deficits in the Match Tie-break to win their 15th tour-level title as a team. They are now 181-82 as a pair after first teaming up in 2019, having extended their winning streak to nine matches dating back to their perfect Turin run. That overall record also includes a 9-1 mark in finals since the start of 2022.

Ram and Salisbury have now won four of their past six tournaments, with triumphs at the US Open, Vienna, Turin and Adelaide.

Friday, 12 January
Matthew Ebden and Rohan Bopanna are through to the Adelaide International final in their first outing of the year together, defeating Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-4, 6-4 in Friday’s semi-finals.

In the final they will play three-time reigning US Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who defeated Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 7-6(4), 5-5, 10-6. Ram and Salisbury are seeking their third title from their past four outings after late-season titles in Vienna and the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of 2023.

In Auckland, top seed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos advanced to the final after defeating Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-3, 6-4.

In the final they will meet Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic, who defeated Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-7.

Thursday, 11 January
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden endured a dramatic first outing as a team in 2024 on Thursday at the Adelaide International.

The Indian-Australian pair defeated Nicolas Barrientos and Rafael Matos 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-7 to reach the semi-finals at the hard-court ATP 250. After advancing to the quarter-finals via a bye and then a walkover, the second-seeded Bopanna and Ebden did not face a break point against Barrientos and Matos but were still required to keep their nerve for a Match Tie-break victory.

Bopanna and Ebden, who reached the semi-finals at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals in November, will take on Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, 6-3, 6-3 winners against Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens, in the last four in Adelaide. The other semi-final will be contested by third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who beat Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez 6-2, 6-2, and Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski.

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic’s fledgling partnership passed a second Match Tie-break test of the week to reach the semi-finals. Koolhof and Mektic saved a match point to beat second seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-0, 2-6, 12-10.

They will next take on Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in New Zealand, where the French duo downed Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday. In the top half of the draw, top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos — 6-3, 7-6(6) winners against Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn — will face fourth seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, who beat Julian Cash and Robert Galloway 3-6, 7-5, 10-2.

Wednesday, 10 January
Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens held their nerve for a stunning upset Wednesday at the Adelaide International.

The German duo downed fourth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Neal Skupski 7-6(10), 6-7(4), 10-8 in a tense second-round clash at the ATP 250. According to Infosys ATP Stats, Frantzen and Jebens sent down 10 aces in a two-hour, six-minute encounter that contained no breaks of serve.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury picked up where they left off in 2023 for their opening match in Adelaide. Competing together for the first time this year, the third seeds defeated Andreas Mies and John-Patrick Smith 6-3, 7-6(2) to reach the quarter-finals at the hard-court ATP 250.

With their 93-minute triumph, Ram and Salisbury extended their winning streak as a team to six matches after they went unbeaten at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. Their next opponents in Adelaide will be Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez, who beat Evan King and Reese Stalder 6-3, 4-6, 11-9.

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek also made a strong start to their year. The Croatian-American duo, which finished 2023 as the Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone, beat Andrew Harris and Harri Heliovaara 7-6(3), 2-6, 10-4.

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos beat Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn 6-3, 7-6(6) to reach the semi-finals at the ATP 250. Their next opponents will be fourth seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow or Julian Cash and Robert Galloway.