In the final round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals, Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram faced against the Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez with the final semifinal spot still up for grabs. The seventh seeds won 6-3, 7-6(8) to go second in the group and advance to the semifinals. They will now face the newly crowned world number one team Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.
Klaasen/Ram grab the opening set with trade of late breaks
The match got off to a slow start. After five games, there were five holds of serve. However, the pair of Klaasen and Ram upped the game and gained two break points after the South African hit a volley winner at 40-15. Feliciano Lopez then stepped up his game on serve and denied the seventh seeds to bring the game to deuce before then going down a break, 4-2.
However, a Klaasen double-fault in the next point undid all his good work from the previous game as Lopez/Lopez were gifted a break back point. The Spaniards won the deciding point and broke back immediately at 4-3. The South African, American duo then gained a break point when Marc Lopez's attempted lob went long of the baseline. A volley winner in the next game from the form player Klaasen allowed the seventh seeds to regain their break. The seventh seeds won the final eight points of the set to win the opening set, 6-3.
Seventh seeds win epic tiebreaker to advance to the semifinals
Feliciano Lopez and Rajeev Ram started the set with comfortable holds of serve. The third game would see the fourth seeds be put under some pressure. Good movement from Feliciano Lopez at the net allowed him to intercept and win the point with a volley winner to set up a deciding point.
The fourth seeds then showed great defence at the net as Marc Lopez won the final point to save the break point and hold serve for 2-1. Both teams then traded service breaks when in the tenth game, the Spaniards were put under more pressure after Marc Lopez faltered on serve. The South African then got hit a tight return as Lopez/Lopez saved the break point.
Marc Lopez held serve to stay in the match at 6-5. Klaasen held his serve to set up a tiebreaker. An overhead winner from the 34-year-old gave he and Ram the minibreak at 3-1. They then ran away with the breaker to reach set point at 6-4. But Ram got tight allowing the Spaniards to level at 6-6 with a passing shot from Marc Lopez.
With another match point to their name, Klaasen and Ram were once more denied after a brilliant return winner from Marc Lopez, who were keeping him and Feliciano Lopez in the breaker. However, their spirits were broken as Klaasen and Ram stayed composed and converted on their fifth opportunity. Wrapping up the match in one hour 24 minutes.