Koolhof/Mektic save MP in Turin turnaround triumph

Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic came back from the brink to rejuvenate their Nitto ATP Finals campaign on Tuesday evening in Turin.

The Dutch-Croatian pair bounced back from an opening loss at the prestigious season finale by saving a match point to down second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-8. Koolhof and Mektic crucially held their nerve across the business end of the match to improve to 1-1 in Mike Bryan Group.

“It was a huge battle from the beginning,” reflected Mektic. “We fought. We had some chances in the second set to break, but it didn’t happen. We were somehow holding our serves. Then both tie-breaks went really far. The first one was [8-6], we saved the match point, and we just pushed each other every point. Every point was vital in the end and it went our way.”

A pair of FIGHTERS ?@wesleykoolhof & @NMektic keep their hopes alive in Turin with a crucial victory!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/7HyUrUnuwI

On the cusp of a straight-sets defeat that would have eliminated them from the tournament, Koolhof and Mektic reeled off three consecutive points from 5/6 in the second-set tie-break to force a decider inside Inalpi Arena. The emotional driving force of the comeback was Koolhof, whose desire to keep alive his chances of winning a title in the final ATP Tour event of his career was clear to see.

There was still a late wobble from the Dutchman and Mektic, however, as they let slip their first three match points from 9/5 in the Match Tie-break. The pair made no mistake with their fourth match point, however, as they wrapped a victory in which they won 88 per cent (44/50) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“The first match was a pretty high quality as well,” said Koolhof, when asked if he and Mektic had made any tactical changes after their opening defeat to Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in Turin. “We always play great battles against Zeballos and Granollers every single time we play them. So it’s fun points, fun matches. Luckily we got the better of them again, but we didn’t really do much different than in the previous match.”

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With their one-hour, 52-minute victory, the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champions extended their Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against Granollers and Zeballos to 4-0. Three of those victories have come this year, when Koolhof and Mektic prevailed against their Spanish-Argentine rivals in Auckland, Indian Wells and now Turin.

Koolhof and Mektic’s Match Tie-break win ensured that Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten became the first team to seal a semi-final spot in Turin. Heliovaara and Patten earlier improved to 2-0 on their Nitto ATP Finals debut by defeating Purcell and Thompson 7-6(3), 7-5.

A second defeat of the week in Turin was a blow to Granollers and Zeballos’ hopes of claiming ATP Year-End Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours. The pair remains second in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, 210 points shy of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic. Arevalo and Pavic play their second match in Turin on Wednesday against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

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