James Cerretani and Philipp Oswald picked up their first ATP World Tour title as a team on Saturday at the Ecuador Open in Quito, prevailing over second seeds Julio Peralta/Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 2-1, after Zeballos was forced to retire with a neck injury.
“We’re very happy with the win here, but we feel bad for our opponents. They were a little injured and that’s not the way you’d like to win a match,” said Cerretani. “The event here in Quito was world-class, though, and the people and the organisation were very friendly in every way.”
Cerretani/Oswald grabbed the lone break of serve in the opening game of the match and held their slight advantage through the opening set. Both teams traded three routine service holds to start the second set before Zeballos stopped the match after 37 minutes.
“It was a perfect week for us,” said Oswald. “We came here to try and win the title, so for us this is very important.”
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The unseeded pair recorded several upsets throughout the week, defeating top seeds Santiago Gonzalez/David Marrero in the opening round and third seeds Nicholas Monroe/Artem Sitak in the semi-finals
The American-Austrian duo first teamed up this past July in Kitzbuhel and recorded a semi-final finish. Cerretani picks up his fourth ATP World Tour doubles title and first since Johannesburg in Febuary 2011 (w/Shamasdin), while Oswald also now has four ATP World Tour doubles titles. His most recent trip to the winner’s circle came in Rio de Janeiro in February 2015 (w/Klizan).
Peralta/Zeballos were also contesting their first ATP World Tour doubles final in 2017. They racked up three titles last year in Sao Paulo, Gstaad and Metz.
Cerretani/Oswald pick up 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $26,110, while Peralta/Zebalos earn 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and share $13,730.