Mackenzie McDonald and Ben Shelton were on the brink of defeat Friday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, but the home favourites mounted a comeback, saving two match points to reach the Washington final.
The Americans ousted third seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 3-6, 6-3, 12-10 after one hour, 17 minutes. The British-Finnish pair held a 9/7 lead in the Match Tie-break before McDonald and Shelton tallied five of the next six points to advance. Glasspool will rue letting slip a match point by double faulting.
McDonald and Shelton, who are teaming for the fourth time this season, won 61 per cent of their second-serve points, compared to their opponent's 45 per cent. The wild cards will next face Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen or Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the ATP 500 final.
🎶 It's a party in the USA 🎶@mackiemacster & @BenShelton reach the doubles final, saving 2 match points to defeat Glasspool/Heliovaara 3-6, 6-3, 12-10! A maiden ATP final for Shelton 👏#MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/KZYW8YYtOY
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) August 4, 2023