Krawietz/Mies Make Winning Start In Paris

Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are back to winning ways at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The German pair dug deep to hold off home favourites Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin and clinch a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory on Monday at the ATP Masters 1000 event in France. The six-time tour-level titlists saved six of seven break points they faced to notch their first win at Paris-Bercy since they reached the semi-finals on tournament debut in 2019.

Krawietz and Mies are two-time Grand Slam champions, having lifted the trophy at Roland Garros in 2019 and 2020, and the pair is chasing its first ATP Masters 1000 crown in the French capital this week. However, they face a tough second-round assignment in Paris in fifth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

Also on Monday, home wild card pairing Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul saved two match points in the Match Tie-break before clinching a thrilling 7-5, 6-7(4), 15-13 win against Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. Doumbia and Reboul’s reward for holding their nerve to clinch an epic two-hour, 10-minute battle is a second-round meeting with top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.

Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen also advanced to the second round by defeating Sebastian Baez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-4. The Belgian duo will continue its bid for its sixth tour-level title against the in-form Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

The eighth-seeded Dodig and Krajieck are on an eight-match unbeaten run after triumphing in Naples and Basel in the past two weeks and are currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings as they look to qualify for November's Nitto ATP Finals.