ATP Tour

Arevalo/Pavic save 2 MPs, send Salisbury/Skupski through at Nitto ATP Finals

Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic held their nerve Wednesday to move back from the brink and move off the mark at the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals.

The fourth-seeded pair completed a perfect year in their Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry with Christian Harrison and Evan King on Wednesday evening in Turin, where they earned a tense 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 13-11 victory. Arevalo and Pavic saved two match points in the Match Tie-break to earn their fourth win in as many tour-level meetings with Harrison and King in 2025.

and breathe 😅@CheloArevaloATP and Mate Pavic save two match points as they squeak past Harrison/King and lock in their first victory in the John McEnroe Group! #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/8iRcWxfEWd

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 12, 2025

“Definitely it gives you a boost. No matter how you are feeling on the court, after a win like this it definitely gives you confidence and motivation and keeps you in the tournament, which is the most important thing,” reflected Arevalo. “This match was critical for me and Mate to keep surviving in the tournament.

"It was right on the edge, and it fell on our side, so we are happy and now we just have to recover and prepare for the Friday match.”

A hard-fought one-hour, 51-minute encounter came to a thrilling climax at Inalpi Arena. Having already let slip their first match point on return at 10/9, King stepped up to the line to serve on he and Harrison's second match point at 11/10. The lefty sent down what he thought was an ace and started celebrating, but it was called a let. King then crucially double-faulted, and Arevalo and Pavic reeled off the next two points to move to 1-1 in John McEnroe Group.

“One let,” said Pavic, when asked about the difference between victory and defeat in Wednesday’s clash. “This is exactly what shows the differences in doubles these days. They basically won the match. It was a let, he hit an ace, and after that a double fault on a match point. In the end it went down to those one or two points, and a lot of time it’s like that in doubles.

“With the Match Tie-break, that’s how it is, and the differences are just small. We somehow managed to fight through, even though we are not at our best. We are happy with the win.”

Watch Late Let Drama As King Denied Ace On MP:

Arevalo and Pavic’s serving was the foundation to their narrow victory. The pair won 86 per cent (50/58) of points behind first deliveries, while it also saved all six break points it faced according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Victory for Arevalo and Pavic ensured Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski qualified for the semi-finals in Turin. The all-British duo earlier defeated Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten 7-6(7), 3-6, 10-7, and Heliovaara and Patten will on Friday take on Arevalo and Pavic in a straight shootout for a last-four spot.