Fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez produced an inspired performance on Wednesday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, scoring their first win in Group Fleming/McEnroe in a marathon match over top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut, 7-5, 5-7, 10-8.
The victory by Lopez/Lopez means that fifth seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers have qualified for the semi-finals. The Finnish-Australian pair were winners earlier in the day over seventh seeds Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram.
Herbert/Mahut have also been eliminated from contention to qualify for the semi-finals. This means that second seeds Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares are in total control over whether they can finish 2016 as the year-end No. 1 doubles team.
Herbert/Mahut and Lopez/Lopez traded comfortable service holds throughout most of the opening set. The Spaniards converted on the first break opportunity of the match at 5-5 after Mahut missed a routine backhand volley. A forehand winner from Marc Lopez on their first set point chance gave the fourth seeds a commanding lead.
A double fault by Herbert down break point in the opening game of the second set put the French pair in immediate danger, but Marc Lopez gifted the break back at 2-1 with a double fault of his own. Few opportunities presented themselves until the final stages of the second set, with Herbert/Mahut breaking Marc Lopez once more to force a Match Tie-break.
The Match Tie-break proved to be a tense affair. Herbert/Mahut were unable to hold leads at 4/1 and 6/4, while a critical double fault from Herbert at 8/8 gave the Spaniards their first match point. They converted on their first opportunity and wrapped up the match after one hour and 38 minutes.
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