Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contenders fight back in Beijing
Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock came back from a one-set and break deficit on Sunday to capture the China Open title, which represents their fourth team trophy. They move up one spot to No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London on 2,820 points, with six of the eight spots left up for grabs at next month’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Pospisil and Sock improved to 4-2 lifetime in finals by fighting back to beat fourth seeds Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, one of the new in-form teams, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 in 73 minutes in Beijing. They won four straight games from a 2-3 deficit in the second set, then recovered from 1/3 in the Match tie-break.
“We really turned it up in the second set,” said Pospisil. “I don’t think we missed a ball from the middle of the set until the end of the match. We enjoyed our whole week here, and that’s the main thing when you’re playing well.”
Pospisil and Sock, now 19-8 on the season, earned 500 Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings points and split $193,420 in prize money with their first trophy on Asian soil. Pospisil is 5-3 lifetime in finals, while Sock is 5-4. They came into the tournament on a run of four straight first-round losses.
“We had a bit of a dry spell during the summer,” said Sock. “But to bounce back and win a title here is great. We feel like we can beat any team when we’re playing well. We were able to get our mojo back.
“I like to hit my forehand pretty big, and from what I hear, most of the other doubles guys don’t like that so much,” added Sock.
Nestor and Roger-Vasselin broke serve to 30 for a 5-3 lead, closing out the 30-minute opener on their second set point opportunity. They looked set for their second team crown at 3-2 in the second set, but Pospisil and Sock won four consecutive games. In the 11-minute Match tie-break, Nestor and Roger-Vasselin took a 3-1 lead but ended having won just three of their service points.
The 43-year-old Nestor is now 88-57 lifetime in tour-level finals, including 3-2 in 2015, while Roger-Vasselin drops to a 11-4 mark. His biggest title came at 2014 Roland Garros (w/Benneteau). They share $87,270 and 300 points.
( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/pospisil-sock-fight-back-for-beijing-2015-doubles-title )
Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo complete a great week as a first-time team
First-time pairing Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo won the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships doubles title on Sunday.
The third seeds defeated Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 3-6, 10-7 in one hour and 34 minutes at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. It denied Cabal and Farah the chance to move to within 20 points of No. 9-placed Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in the Emirates ATP Race To London for qualification to next month’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Klaasen and Melo earned $90,460 in prize money and 500 Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings points. They also came through a Match tie-break win against Treat Huey and Henri Kontinen in the quarter-finals. Klaasen is now 8-6 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals, while Melo is 16-18 overall.
Both teams took time to settle down, with breaks of serve in the second and third games. Farah struck an unreturned serve to Klaasen at 4-5 on a sudden death deuce that was also a set point. Melo helped to take control of the tie-break with a fine backhand return at 5/5, which helped seal the 51-minute opener.
The Colombians regrouped to take a 3-0 lead in the second set, courtesy of a Farah forehand winner down the middle in the second game. Klaasen saved a set point with an unreturned serve at 2-5, sudden death deuce, but Cabal closed out the next game for a Match tie-break decider.
Klaasen and Melo opened up a 4/2 advantage in the Match tie-break, but got pinned back to 5/5. Two points against the server helped them regain control en route to victory.
Cabal and Farah were contesting their fifth ATP World Tour final of the year (2-3). The duo head to Shanghai sharing $40,810 and 300 points. Cabal is now 4-11 in finals, with Farah dropping to 4-9.
( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/klaasen-melo-seal-tokyo-2015-doubles-triumph )
Topics: 10sballs.com, Atp World Tour, Beijing, China Open tennis, Doubles tennis, jack sock, Marcelo Melo, Men's tennis, Rakuten Japan Open, Raven Klaasan, Sports, Tennis News, Vasek Pospisil
-@VasekPospisil AND @JackSock FIGHT BACK FOR #Beijing DOUBLES TITLE & MORE #TennisNews- http://t.co/jD5lc7g0Cf #DoublesTennis #ChinaOpen