Arevalo/Pavic edge Bopanna/Ebden for crucial win in Turin

Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic shook off a sluggish start on Wednesday to secure a vital victory at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The top seeds overcame Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 7-5, 6-3 to reignite their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage at the season finale. Arevalo and Pavic rode a red-hot mid-match run of form, during which they won 15 consecutive points, to secure a 68-minute win. 

“I think we had to give it our all today, this was the match to [essentially] stay in the tournament,” Arevalo said. “Anything can happen, and we knew that. Today, we put in extra energy. Mate and I decided to go out there and give our best. We were lucky to execute in the important moments and finally we ended up getting the win.”

Business has picked 🆙

Top seeds @CheloArevaloATP & Mate Pavic open their account in Turin with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Bopanna/Ebden!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/EWffXLDltf

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 13, 2024

Arevalo and Pavic, who are now 1-1 in the Bob Bryan Group, will seek to bolster their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages when they take on home favourites Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori in their final round-robin match. The Salvadoran-Croatian team is bidding to become the first top-seeded duo to win the event since Mike and Bob Bryan did so in 2014.

“It’s good to get a win, we actually haven’t won a match since the US Open,” added Pavic. “It’s something that we are not used to at this level [losing five consecutive matches], but it can happen, everybody is playing well. We are very happy to have turned it around and got the win today. Hopefully we can go out there on Friday and play a good match.”

Their maiden team triumph at the event was also a boost to their hopes of securing ATP Year-End Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours. Arevalo and Pavic are in pole position in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, 410 points ahead of Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, who are 0-2 in the Mike Bryan Group.

The first-set momentum appeared to be with Bopanna and Ebden, who are ending their two-year partnership after the tournament, but they were unable to capitalise on a break lead. Ebden fired two consecutive double faults in a nervy 12th game to hand their opponents the advantage.

From there, Arevalo and Pavic took a stranglehold on the match. Despite a late fightback from Bopanna/Ebden, they won nine out of 12 points behind their first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.