Henri Kontinen and John Peers are on the cusp of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals semi-finals following a second victory at the O2 arena. The in-form duo are currently on a seven-match winning streak having clinched the BNP Paribas Masters 1000 title in Paris.
Henri Kontinen and John Peers defeated Klaasen/Ram in their round-robin match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday. Watch live matches at tennistv.com. Photo: Peter Staples / ATP World Tour.
Henri Kontinen and John Peers look more and more like the doubles team to beat this week at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The fifth seeds improved to 2-0 on Wednesday, advancing past Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4 in 64 minutes. Kontinen/Peers saved all three break points against the South African/American pairing and remained perfect on serve at the season finale, having held all 20 service games during their two round-robin matches at The O2. The Finnish/Australian team has now won its past seven matches, dating back to its maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title run earlier this month at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. The remainder of the week could be promising as well....
By John Peers Our 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals has certainly gotten off to a good start. We've already beaten new World No. 1 Andy Murray in the all-important “Gong Challenge”. Standing on centre court, Murray tossed the ball up six times but couldn't hit the 14-inch gong, which sat about 20 metres away in the stands. (For the record, he was using someone else's racquet). My doubles partner, Henri Kontinen, had also tried to peg the gong six times but he, too, couldn't connect. But I grabbed my Prince racquet, tossed the ball up and hit the gong on my first attempt. I'll admit, it was luck, but I won't be testing that theory. I've never done it since...