Lammons/Withrow Triumph In Astana

Andrey Udartsev / KTF.kz

Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow continued their standout season together on Tuesday at the Astana Open, where they defeated fourth seeds Mate Pavic and John Peers 7-6(4), 7-6(7) to win their fourth tour-level title of the year.

The Americans won 81 per cent (42/52) of their first-serve points and saved two set points in the second set, eventually advancing on their third match point after one hour and 38 minutes.

"Jackson and I have made some changes over the course of the couple of years we have played now and now we are keeping it very consistent and high level," Lammons said. "I think that has led to us being in contention in many tournaments and we were happy to be in a final again today."

With their title run at the ATP 250, the second seeds have boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. Lammons and Withrow are currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, 158 points ahead of ninth-placed team Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. The Americans may need to finish in the Top 7 to compete in Turin as Australian Open champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler are 16th and will qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals if they stay in the Top 20 due to them winning a Grand Slam.

Earlier this year Lammons and Withrow captured titles on hard courts in Atlanta and Winston-Salem and on grass in Newport.

Pavic and Peers were teaming for the first time this week. They advanced to the final without dropping a set but were unable to capitalise on return in the crucial moments against Lammons and Withrow.

Pavic, 30, lifted the trophy with Nikola Mektic in Astana last season. Peers was chasing his second title of 2023 after triumphing with Marcelo Melo in Halle.