It was a perfect ending for the newly anointed number one doubles team of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. The duo eased past Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea 6-4, 6-3 to win the men's doubles title at the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday.
Quick Start For Rojer-Tecau
Rohan Bopanna opened up the match on serve and it was trouble right away for the former Tour Finals finalist. Rojer-Tecau saw two breaks points in the opening game and converted the second to slip out to a 1-0 lead. Tecau would hold to give the unbeaten duo a 2-0 lead within minutes. Bopanna-Mergea would have trouble trying to make an impression on the serves of Rojer and Tecau until the sixth game. Tecau would save both break points through to give Rojer-Tecau a 4-2 lead. The Romanian would also be on the closing end of the set as he helped serve out the first at 6-4 to five the Romanian-Dutch pairing their ninth straight set at the Tour Finals in just 31 minutes.
The opening set was very evenly matched with both teams winning 28 points. The big difference being the one break chance converted by Rojer-Tecau and their ability to save two of two break chances against their serves. Rojer-Tecau also teamed up to club six aces on serve in the set.
Perfection For Rojer-Tecau
The second set opened with four straight service holds between the two teams wth Bopanna and Mergea both looking solid through their first two service games. In the fifth game though, Bopanna came under pressure on serve again. Rojer-Tecau would keep punishing second serves as they secured the first break of the set for a 3-2 lead. Rojer and Tecau would again each hold their service games as the set moved to 5-3 in their favor. With Bopanna serving, the second seeds would again pounce as they broke at-love to win the title 6-4, 6-3.
Rojer-Tecau were nearly flawless in winning their tenth set of the Tour Finals as they won 16 of 21 points on serve and got some key points on the second serves of Bopanna and Mergea. Rojer-Tecau won eight of 14 second serve points from their 8th seeded opponents. They did not face a single break point in the set. With the win, the newly minted ATP World Tour Finals doubles champions beat Bopanna-Mergea for the fourth time in four matches this season.
Famous First For Rojer-Tecau
The win for Rojer and Tecau was icing on the cake after the team earned the year-end number one ranking on Saturday with their semifinal win over the Bryan Brothers. Rojer-Tecau also became the first doubles team to win every set played at the Tour Finals since the beginning of Round Robin play back in 1986 with their championship win on Sunday. The 2015 season also marked the duo's first Grand Slam victory when Rojer-Tecau beat the team of Jamie Murray and John Peers for the men's doubles title at Wimbledon. For two players who came into the week with a combined record of just 2-16 in doubles play at the Tour Finals, this was a dream ending to a dream season.