Granollers/Zeballos Surge Into Shanghai Final

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos’ red-hot run at the Rolex Shanghai Masters continued Friday. The Spanish-Argentine pair eased past Rinky Hijikata and Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-3 to reach the final at the ATP Masters 1000.

The seventh-seeded Granollers and Zeballos converted four of seven break points they earned in a 63-minute triumph inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. They have now won all eight sets they have played this year in Shanghai, where they are seeking their fifth Masters 1000 title as a team and their first since Cincinnati in 2021.

Next stop: Masters 1000 final 🏆@HoracioZeballos and @M_Granollers defeat Cameron Norrie and Rinky Hijikata 6-2, 6-3 to reach the doubles final in Shanghai.#RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/8AEMIFOCA9

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 13, 2023

Granollers and Zeballos’ Shanghai run has already boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth straight year. They have risen two spots to fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings as a result of their exploits so far in China.

Standing in their way in Sunday’s championship match will be the winner of Saturday’s semi-final clash between fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden and Sadio Doumbia/Fabien Reboul.