Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz sprang an early upset in style on Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals.
The German duo sank top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of Bob Bryan Group at the prestigious season finale. Krawietz and Puetz clinched the only break of serve in each set en route to a 63-minute triumph, during which they won 89 per cent (32/36) of points behind first serves.
By notching victory on their Nitto ATP Finals team debut, the eighth-seeded Krawietz and Puetz improved to 4-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Arevalo and Pavic. All six of those meetings have been played across 2024.
STATEMENT MADE 🎭
Kevin Krawietz and @GoldenSetTim turn on the style to defeat the top seeds Arevalo/Pavic in the Bob Bryan Group!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/czINdiCP7f
“Of course to start with a win is very important, also for the whole tournament,” said Krawietz. “We get a good feeling on the big court, and I think everything was working very well.”
“First and foremost we served well,” said Puetz. “We took care of our serve, which is key in here, especially in doubles on a fast surface like this. I thought we did very well. Had one kind of shaky service game in the first set. Besides that, it was pretty clean, so that’s key. The rest is a bonus, so it was a great match.”
Hamburg champions Krawietz and Puetz, who also defeated Arevalo and Pavic in the US Open semi-finals en route to their maiden Grand Slam championship match, are now 41-18 for the season. They will next turn their attention to their second group match against one of the other two pairs in Bob Bryan Group, Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori or Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden.
Monday’s defeat was a setback in Arevalo and Pavic’s bid to clinch ATP Year-End Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours. The Salvadoran-Croation team still leads the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings but is just 210 points clear of second-placed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
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