Inspired Krawietz/Puetz stun Arevalo/Pavic in Turin

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz sprang an early upset in style on Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The German duo sank top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of Bob Bryan Group at the prestigious season finale. Krawietz and Puetz clinched the only break of serve in each set en route to a 63-minute triumph, during which they won 89 per cent (32/36) of points behind first serves.

By notching victory on their Nitto ATP Finals team debut, the eighth-seeded Krawietz and Puetz improved to 4-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Arevalo and Pavic. All six of those meetings have been played across 2024.

STATEMENT MADE 🎭

Kevin Krawietz and @GoldenSetTim turn on the style to defeat the top seeds Arevalo/Pavic in the Bob Bryan Group!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/czINdiCP7f

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 11, 2024

“Of course to start with a win is very important, also for the whole tournament,” said Krawietz. “We get a good feeling on the big court, and I think everything was working very well.”

“First and foremost we served well,” said Puetz. “We took care of our serve, which is key in here, especially in doubles on a fast surface like this. I thought we did very well. Had one kind of shaky service game in the first set. Besides that, it was pretty clean, so that’s key. The rest is a bonus, so it was a great match.”

Hamburg champions Krawietz and Puetz, who also defeated Arevalo and Pavic in the US Open semi-finals en route to their maiden Grand Slam championship match, are now 41-18 for the season. They will next turn their attention to their second group match against one of the other two pairs in Bob Bryan Group, Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori or Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden.

Monday’s defeat was a setback in Arevalo and Pavic’s bid to clinch ATP Year-End Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours. The Salvadoran-Croation team still leads the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings but is just 210 points clear of second-placed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.