Griekspoor/Struff, Nys/Zielinski Claim 500s

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Saturday, 2 March
Tallon Griekspoor and Jan-Lennard Struff capped their first week together in style on Saturday, when they defeated second seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 to clinch the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title.

The German-Dutch pair won 73 per cent (16/22) of their second-serve points and pulled away in the Match Tie-Break, winning seven of the final 10 points to triumph after 84 minutes.

Griekspoor and Struff did not drop a set en route to the final and also upset top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.

Struff has won four tour-level doubles titles and is the second German champion in tournament history after Tim Puetz won with Michael Venus in 2022. Griekspoor, 27, holds a 2-0 record in doubles finlas, also triumphing in Metz in 2019 with Robin Lindstedt.

Dodig and Krajicek were chasing their first doubles title of the season, having lifted five trophies together in 2023.

Acapulco Final
Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski upset Santiago Gonzalez and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-2 in a final showdown between the top two seeds to claim the Abierto Mexicano Telecel presentado por HSBC title in Acapulco on Saturday night.

After surviving match tie-breaks in their first two matches, including a 13-11 nailbiter against defending champions Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler in the quarter-finals, the Monegasque and Pole saved their best for the latter stages of the tournament, claiming straight-sets wins over Harri Heliovaara and John Peers in the semis before racing past the top seeds in the final.

It is their fourth team title and first at the ATP 500 level.

"We haven't played well every week this year, so it's a real pleasure when you have a strong end of the week like this," Nys said.

"This means a lot. It's been a long time away from home for both Hugo and me," Zielinski said. "It's a first 500 title for us, so it means a lot. Not looking at the score it was a really tough match against the hometown favourite Santiago and Neal, who has won here before. It means a lot."

Santiago Final
There was victory at home for Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo on Saturday at the Movistar Chile Open. The unseeded pair defeated wild card team Orlando Luz and Matias Soto 6-2, 6-4 in Santiago to each lift their maiden ATP Tour doubles title.

Barrios Vera and Tabilo, who previously reached the semi-finals together at the clay-court ATP 250 in their homeland in both 2020 and 2022, converted four of eight break points they earned against Luz and Soto to seal a 69-minute championship-match victory. That included breaking serve in their first three return games.

Barrios Vera and Tabilo now hold a 14-9 tour-level record as a team. The pair clashed on the singles court in Santiago earlier this week, when Tabilo triumphed in straight sets against his doubles partner. The 26-year-old will chase a second success of the weekend in Santiago on Sunday when he takes on Sebastian Baez in the singles final.

_{^{Alejandro Tabilo and Tomas Barrios Vera win their first ATP Tour doubles title in Santiago. Photo Credit: Movistar Chile Open.}}

Friday, 1 March
Are Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek rounding into title-winning form at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships?

The Croatian-American pair, which finished 2023 as the Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF winning team, downed Yuki Bhambri and Robin Haase 6-3, 7-6(2) on Friday to reach their first final of the season at the hard-court ATP 500.

Dodig and Krajicek lifted five tour-level trophies together last season, but had not been past the semi-finals in three events this year prior to Dubai. They were rock-solid on serve to defeat qualifiers Bhambri and Haase — the second seeds won 90 per cent (36/40) of first-serve points and did not face a break point in their 80-minute semi-final triumph, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Standing between Dodig and Krajicek and the title in Dubai are Tallon Griekspoor and Jan-Lennard Struff. The Dutch-German pair overcame Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek 7-6(1), 7-5 to book their place in the championship match.

Thursday, 29 February
Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek staged a late rally to upset the top seeds Thursday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The Uruguayan-Czech pair won the final four points of their quarter-final clash against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden to clinch a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 triumph at the hard-court ATP 500.

Behar and Pavlasek won 78 per cent (31/40) of points behind first serves as they booked a spot in their third tour-level semi-final of 2024. Awaiting them in the last four will be two Top 30 singles stars in the PIF ATP Rankings — Tallon Griekspoor and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Despite defeat for Bopanna, there was Indian success on the doubles court on Thursday, when Yuki Bhambri and his partner Robin Haase upset third seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 6-4, 7-6(1).

Bhambri and Dutchman Haase, who came through qualifying to earn a main-draw spot in Dubai, saved all nine break points they faced and converted the only one they earned en route to an 82-minute triumph. Their semi-final opponents will be second seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

At the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, three of the top-four seeded pairings sealed semi-final spots on Thursday. Top seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Neal Skupski beat Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn 6-3, 7-5 to advance to face fourth seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, who downed Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-4, 6-1.

Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski needed five match points but ultimately overcame Alexander Erdler and Lucas Miedler 6-3, 2-6, 13-11. The third seeds will face Harri Heliovaara and John Peers in the last four, after the Finnish-Australian duo beat Julian Cash and Robert Galloway 4-6, 7-6(7), 10-5.

In Santiago, the in-form Nicolas Barrientos and Rafael Matos notched their fifth consecutive win on South American clay with a 7-6(4), 4-6, 11-9 quarter-final victory against Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez at the Movistar Chile Open.

The third-seeded Barrientos and Matos, who lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro last week, will meet home favourites Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo next. Top seeds Marcelo Melo and Matwe Middelkoop beat Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos 6-3, 6-4 to set a semi-final clash with Orlando Luz and Matias Soto, who downed Evan King and Reese Stalder 7-5, 6-4.