Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau came up clutch with their backs against the wall on Saturday at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, rallying for their 14th team title.
The Dutch-Romanian duo overcame a set deficit and survived a championship point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break, edging Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 2-6, 7-6(9), 10-6.
"It was a really tough match," said Rojer. "Robert and Sebas were playing well the whole week. They played better today for the majority of the match and this time we got a little lucky after going down match point. We're very happy with the win and it gives us a lot of confidence going into the French Open."
Tecau provided the big serves when they needed them, striking a service winner to turn aside the match point and another mammoth delivery to close out the tie-break at 10-9. The top-seeded tandem would claim the initial mini-break for 5-3 in the deciding Match Tie-break and never looked back, prevailing after one hour and 52 minutes.
"It's always fun to play in front of a nice crowd and it's a big week for us," Tecau added. "It's another title and we're going to enjoy it with our team. Our first time coming here, but we're looking forward to coming back."
Geneva doubles champs
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 27, 2017
Congratulations to Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau! pic.twitter.com/dD98PSP6D4
The victory gives Rojer and Tecau their second title of the season, having previously triumphed on the hard courts of Dubai in February. It marks the fourth straight season in which they have claimed multiple crowns. The No. 8 pairing in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London, they earn €26,110 in prize money and add 250 points to their haul.
For Rojer, it was the Dutchman's 23rd individual title overall, while Tecau secured his 31st. Cabal and Farah, meanwhile, were bidding for their 11th as a team. The former champions had won the inaugural title in Geneva in 2015 (d. Klaasen/Lu).
Rojer and Tecau moved ahead 2-1 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series, having most recently prevailed over the Colombians at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 stop in Miami in 2015. Cabal and Farah notched a victory the year prior at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.