Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos improved to 3-0 in ATP World Tour doubles finals this year, taking the title at the Moselle Open on Sunday.
The Chilean-Argentine duo fired seven aces and saved all five break points faced to down third seeds Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 6-3, 7-6(4) in the Metz final. A rematch of the final on the clay of Gstaad in July, Peralta and Zeballos defeated their third straight seeded team to prevail. They had stormed back from a set down to upset both fourth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and second seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin earlier in the week.
"We really felt great with our game today," said Zeballos. "It was a tough match like the others this week. The level was high and demanding and it gives us a lot of confidence to win. It's our third title of the year as a team and we're improving our ranking."
Chin chin "champiiiiiionnnssss" pic.twitter.com/R0lMSc0VgH
— horacio zeballos (@HoracioZeballos) September 25, 2016
Also champions on the clay of Sao Paulo in February, Peralta and Zeballos improved to a dominant 13-3 this season. They earn 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €25,070 in prize money with the victory. For Zeballos, it was the Argentine's sixth ATP World Tour title in total and fourth this season, having also triumphed with countryman Andres Molteni in Atlanta.
"I'm very happy to win our third title together and especially on indoor hard," added Peralta. "It's very good for our confidence going forward."
Pavic and Venus, meanwhile, were seeking their fifth ATP World Tour doubles title as a team this year, having previously lifted trophies in Auckland, Montpellier, Marseille and 's-Hertogenbosch. It was their seventh final together in 2016, falling to 4-3. They take home €13,170 in prize money and 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points for their efforts.