In the final match of the year, Henri Kontinen and John Peers captured their biggest title of their careers by defeating Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 to win the ATP World Tour Finals and end their season ten matches unbeaten.
Klaasen/Ram run away with opening set
The fifth seeds were forced to save a break point. Having been taken to a deciding point, Klaasen and Ram then won the point to avoid going down an early break. The pair then held serve much more easily, holding serve as they got on the scoreboard. The South African, American duo seemed to have settled the quicker in the final. With the scores at 2-2, Kontinen and Peers were taken to a deciding point before a high volley was put wide by the Finn.
The pair of Klaasen and Ram were put under pressure. At 40-15, Kontinen and Peers brought up triple break points with Kontinen aiming a return at the feet of Ram. However, the seventh would go on a bit of a roll, winning three points and holding for 2-4. The pair then continued their impressive start by running away to a love-40 lead in the very next game. Kontinen and Peers took the game to a deciding point before a telling blow from Klaasen at the net gave them a double-break insurance. On their second opportunity, the pair wrapped up the set 2-6.
Kontinen/Peers fight back to draw level
The fifth seeds regrouped and after holding their opening service game, they raced away to a love-40 lead. Ram, who was serving was broken, hitting an unforced error as Kontinen and Peers broke to lead 2-0. They then consolidated for 3-0, and at this point, they were looking like the team that had gone unbeaten in the tournament. The Finn, Australian pair continued their push to send the match into a breaker and following a forehand volley wide from Klaasen, they broke.
In the very next game, Ram and Klaasen pushed Kontinen and Peers to a deciding point. However, they managed to win the point with great hands at the net by the 26-year-old to take a 5-0 lead. The fifth seeds would then bring up a set/deciding point with Kontinen hitting a delicate backhand return down the line. A second serve down the middle caught Peers unaware as he stretched for it but Ram and Klaasen managed to get on the scoreboard. The Finn, Aussie sealed the second set 6-1, with the 34-year-old guiding a forehand volley wide.
Fifth seeds clinch the title
Both teams gathered for one final push with the match tiebreaker deciding the year-end championship title. Both teams did a good job of holding as they brought the tiebreaker level at 8-8. The next point was the telling blow. With Klaasen missing his first serve, Kontinen then attacked the African's second serve taking advantage slapping a backhand return towards Ram who couldn't deal with the shot and a championship point was brought up.
In the next point, The Aussie John Peers struck a service winner down the middle as he and Henri Kontinen sealed victory to win their biggest title since coming together as a team at the start of the year. Following this win, the fifth seeds received 1,500 ATP doubles ranking points and a cheque of $455,000 split between the two. For the seventh seeds, they received 800 points and a cheque of $245,000 split between the two.