Heliovaara/Patten stay perfect on Nitto ATP Finals debut

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten maintained their red-hot start to the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday, when the Finnish-British pair downed Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 7-6(3), 7-5.

Seeking a repeat of their Wimbledon championship-match victory against Purcell and Thompson, Heliovaara and Patten seized control of a tight contest in the first-set tie-break, during which they won six of seven points from 1/2 to move a set ahead. After notching a break to love in the fifth game of the second set, they seemed set to seal an ultimately comfortable win, but a rare sloppy service game from Patten at 5-4 allowed their opponents back into the contest.

The British lefty did not have to wait long to redeem himself. In the very next game, he fired a return winner down the line on a crucial deuce deciding point to earn another break of serve. From there, Heliovaara served out to love to cap a 96-minute victory in style.

Keep on Rollin' ??

No. 3 seeds Harri Heliovaara & Henry Patten remain undefeated in the Mike Bryan Group, by defeating Purcell/Thompson 7-6(3) 7-5!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/36K0TpRoDx

“[Max] was struggling a little bit with his body, but our energy was fantastic as it always is and we got over the line, just about," reflected Patten on the win, during which he and Heliovaara hit 11 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Now 2-0 in Mike Bryan Group, Heliovaara and Patten are on the brink of sealing a semi-final spot on their team debut at the prestigious season finale. Their place in the last four will be confirmed on Tuesday evening Turin if Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos defeat Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic, or if Koolhof/Mektic down Granollers/Zeballos in three sets.

“It’s exactly what we came here to do,” said Heliovaara. “To be honest, we believe that we can win every match, and we showed everybody today that we are here and ready to compete. We know how good our best level is. We can beat all the teams. We can also lose to all the teams, if we don’t play our best, but we’ve been very good at finding our best game, our best mental mode.

“Somehow in our heads we are very present on the court. A ‘performance state of mind’, as one of our coaches says, and I really love that feeling.”

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With their latest victory at Inalpi Arena, Heliovaara and Patten jumped one spot to sixth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. They also moved into a 2-1 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Purcell and Thompson, with their previous victory against the Australian duo coming after they saved three championship points in July's Wimbledon final.

Tuesday’s defeat leaves US Open champions and fifth seeds Purcell/Thompson with a 1-1 record so far in Turin. They will take on top seeds Granollers/Zeballos in their final group match on Thursday.

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