Mate Pavic and Michael Venus won their second title of the season in Montpellier. The duo defeated brothers Alexander and Mischa Zverev for one of the three ATP titles won over the weekend.
Pavic-Venus Get Second Title of 2016
Mate Pavic and Michael Venus are off to a nice start in 2016. The pair started the season by winning the men's doubles title in Auckland, New Zealand at the ASB Classic. After an early exit at the Australian Open, they bounced back in Montpellier at the Open Sud de France. Pavic-Venus defeated the Zverevs 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the title match. It was a tense match with Pavic-Venus scoring the lone break in the opening set at 5-5. The Croatian and New Zealand native would use a quick burst in the second set tiebreak to run out 3-0 and never look back. They used stout serves to win 86 percent of the first serve points to fuel their win. The title also marks their third as a team.
Two More Champions Crowned
The ATP World Tour also two more doubles champions decided on the weekend. At the Ecuador Open Quito, unseeded tandem Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Duran earned their first career doubles titles. The Spaniard and Argentine beat Brazilian duo Thomaz Bellucci and Marcelo Demoliner 7-5, 6-4 in the title match. Carreno Busta said in an interview for the ATP World Tour website that Duran is a great complement as a partner, “[Guillermo] is a good player with solid returns, serves and volleys, and with him we were a very complete team. It’s easy for me when my partner is playing well."
The other championship match this weekend took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. it was the inaugural Garanti Koza Sofia Open. Third seeds Matwe Middlekoop and Wesley Koolhoff survived a tournament of upsets on the doubles side as they took home the title Philipp Oswald and Adil Shamasdin 5-7, 6-7 (9), 10-6. The Dutch pair had to save two match points in the second set to force a super tiebreak. It is the first ATP level doubles title for both Middlekoop and Koolhoff.
Return of SanTina
This week marks the return of the WTA Tour after last week's break for Fed Cup play. It means the return of the top team with Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis scheduled to play at the St.Petersburg Ladies Trophy in Russia. Hingis-Mirza are the top seeds at the tournament and open against Jelena Ostapenko and Evgeniya Rodina. Hingis-Mirza carry a 36 match win streak into this week. Their main competition should be the team they just beat for the Australian Open title. Czechs Lucie Hraedecka and Andrea Hlavackova are seeded second in St.Petersburg.
ATP Stops in Rotterdam, Memphis and Buenos Aires
Rotterdam is the highlight stop this week as a 500-level tournament. The top seeds in the doubles draw this week are Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. Last year's year-ending number one team will be looking to repeat and get their 2016 season on track. In Memphis, the Bryan Brothers return to the court looking for some form to build on. Bob and Mike lost in the third round in Melbourne after crashing out in their opener in Auckland to start the season. Finally, in Buenos Aires, Juan-Sebastien Cabal and Robert Farah lead the field as the top seeds at the Argentina Open. One half of last year's championship team, Andre Sa, will be back as part of this year's second seeded team with Maximo Gonzalez. Sa teamed with Jarkko Nieminen last year to win the doubles title.