Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo continued their dominance on grass this season by taking the doubles title on Sunday at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, outlasting brothers and home favourites Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev 5-7, 6-3, 10-8. "It's a great feeling. We won our first grass title last week and we're very happy to continue that," said Kubot. "We're enjoying the moment and continuing our winning ways. We've had the best preparation possible for Wimbledon, so we're very happy about that." Kubot/Melo have won four ATP World Tour doubles title this season. They prevailed at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Miami (d. Monroe/Sock) and Madrid (d. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin), in addition to last week’s grass-court event...
Roger Federer started perfectly and never looked back in the Gerry Weber Open final in Halle on Sunday, sprinting to a 6-1, 6-3 victory against #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev under the roof in Gerry Weber Stadion. The dominating title victory gives Federer his ninth Halle crown, joining him with Rafael Nadal as the only two men in the Open Era who have won a tournament more than eight times. Nadal has won 10 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Roland Garros titles. Federer improves to 4-0 in title matches this season, having won the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open presented by Itau. He and Nadal are now tied for the...
Fourth seed Gilles Muller won his second ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, prevailing over third seed Ivo Karlovic in a battle of big serves 7-6(5), 7-6(4). “I think we should make a suggestion to the ATP that we just start with the tie-break next time!” said Muller. “It’s always tough to play Ivo and I’m glad I could beat him. I had many friends and a lot of family coming, so it’s been a great week here.” The match between the 38-year-old Karlovic and 34-year-old Muller was the oldest singles final on the ATP World Tour since Hong Kong in 1977, when 42-year-old Ken Rosewall defeated 30-year-old Ilie Nastase. Muller (34 years, one...
Frenchman Lucas Pouille hit 29 aces to win his second title of the season on Sunday, coming back to beat Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart. Pouille has now won three titles and improves to 3-2 in ATP World Tour finals. The 23-year-old right-hander also won the inaugural Gazprom Hungarian Open on clay in April. Last September, Pouille won his maiden title at the Moselle Open in Metz. “I think I took a little bit more of the opportunities than him. He had some break points and didn't make them, and I had only one or two and I made them. So I think that made the difference,” Pouille said. The MercedesCup final was his first grass-court title...
Second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares completed a perfect beginning to their grass-court seasons on Sunday, beating fourth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-5 to win the MercedesCup doubles title in Stuttgart. Murray/Soares dropped only four points on their first serve (44/48) and saved both break points. Neither team broke in the first set but Marach/Pavic won the final three points of the tie-break to claim the opener. In the second set, Murray/Soares broke at 5-5 then served out the set to even the final. The duo ran away with the match tie-break, sprinting to a 6/1 lead before clinching their second crown of the season. “Very tough win. The court is playing fast, so not...
