Arevalo & Pavic win high-stakes finale, advance to Turin SFs

Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic held their nerve Friday in a high-stakes, round-robin finale to secure their place in the Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals. The Salvadoran-Croatian duo knocked out home favourites Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6-3, 3-6, 10-3 to finish second in the Bob Bryan group.

Arevalo and Pavic have already guaranteed their finish as Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF and now they look to claim their first Nitto ATP Finals crown.

The top seeds overcame a topsy-turvy encounter with the Italians that featured hot and cold runs from each team. After winning the opening set, Arevalo and Pavic dropped five consecutive games. But in key moments, they relied on aggressive returning and applied pressure with their close positioning at net. Arevalo and Pavic won 84 per cent (32/38) of their first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

[ATP AWARDS]

Following their win, Arevalo and Pavic improved to 4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Bolelli and Vavassori. All four meetings came this season, including a championship clash at Roland Garros.

Arevalo and Pavic, aiming for their fifth title of the year, will next meet Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, who topped the Mike Bryan Group with a 3-0 record.

Have some of THAT ?‍?

That is magical from Mate Pavic ?‍?#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/CBtLxU3zvX