Sander Gille and Jan Zielinski came up clutch on Saturday at the ABN AMRO Open.
Competing against top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic at the indoor hard-court ATP 500 in Rotterdam, Gille and Zielinski dug deep for a 7-6(7), 7-6(6) semi-final victory. One key turning point of their win came when they were serving at 5-6 in the first set: their opponents held four set points at 0/40, but Gille and Zielinski held firm to force a tie-break, which they eventually won after fending off another set point at 6/7.
Arevalo and Pavic again held two break points on return at 5-5, 30/40 in the second set, but Gille and Zielinski repeated their escape act before going onto secure a one-hour, 48-minute win. The Belgian-Polish pair finished the maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter between the two teams having saved 10 of 11 break points they faced overall, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Putting the icing on the cake 🧁@sandergille & @zielaczekk topple the top seeds Pavic/Arevalo to reach the doubles final in Rotterdam! @abnamroopen | #abnamroopen pic.twitter.com/xztRSjPs3f
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 8, 2025
Having first competed together in Adelaide last month, Gille and Zielinski are now into their maiden championship match in just their third event as a team. Their opponents in Sunday’s final will be the winners of Saturday’s night-session semi-final between third seeds Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori and Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool.
Harrison/King charge into Dallas final
Qualifiers Christian Harrison and Evan King continued their dream run at the Dallas Open on Saturday, when they stunned Jamie Murray and John Peers 6-4, 6-2 in the two teams' maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
Buoyed by home support, the all-American duo proved too strong for the third seeds and displayed clinical form from start to finish. The pair saved all eight break points it faced and won 77 per cent (30/39) of first-serve points in the one-hour, two-minute clash, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
They will take on Ariel Behar and Robert Galloway or wild cards Robert Cash and JJ Tracy in the championship match on Sunday.
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