Doubles
Dutchman Koolhof wins Rotterdam doubles title with Mektic
Delray Beach doubles final later Sunday
February 18, 2024
@alyssavanheyst | @abnamrowtt
Nikola Mektic and Wesley Koolhof lift the trophy in Rotterdam. By ATP Staff
Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic won their second title of the season as a team on Sunday at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam, where they moved past Dutch wild cards Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 7-5.
Dutchman Koolhof and Croatian Mektic overcame top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the semi-finals and backed up that win with an impressive display in the title match to triumph after 85 minutes.
"It is very special," Koolhof said. "It is my first 500 at all. I have won Wimbledon and a few Masters but never a 500. It is very special to win it in Rotterdam, at home. I think I played my first ever ATP main draw match here. It is a special feeling."
Koolhof and Mektic won 76 per cent (16/21) of their first-serve points in the opening set, before they rallied from a break down in the second set.
The Dutch-Croatian pair is now 10-1 together in 2024, having also won the title in Auckland. It is the first time home favourite Koolhof has won the trophy in Rotterdam, while Mektic clinched the crown in 2021 with Mate Pavic.
Bolelli/Vavassori triumph in Buenos Aires
Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori won the IEB+ Argentina Open in Buenos Aires on Sunday when they defeated top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-2, 7-6(6) in the final.
The third seeds saved all three break points they faced to emerge victorious against the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals runners-up. They lost just one set en route to the title.
Bolelli and Vavassori, this year's Australian Open finalists, had been 0-3 in tour-level finals as a team. But they lifted their first trophy as a pair in Buenos Aires.
The Italians are second in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Teams Rankings, only trailing the duo that beat them in the Australian Open final: Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.
Saturday, 17 February
Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp channelled home support to clinch a tense semi-final victory Saturday at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.
The wild card Dutch pair beat third seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 to reach the championship match at the indoor ATP 500. Although Americans Lammons and Withrow converted their only break point of the match late in the second set to level proceedings at Rotterdam Ahoy, Haase and Van de Zandschulp rallied from 4/6 in the Match Tie-break to seal a 76-minute triumph.
Awaiting the home favourites in Sunday’s final will be another Dutchman, Wesley Koolhof, and his partner Nikola Mektic, who upset top seeds and defending champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 7-5, 6-4.
Haase is chasing his second title in Rotterdam, where he lifted the trophy in 2022 alongside Matwe Middelkoop.
In Buenos Aires, top seed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos defeated fourth seeds Marcelo Melo and Matwe Middelkoop 6-3, 6-3 to set up a final showdown with Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. The third-seeded Italians took out Nicolas Barrientos and Rafael Matos 7-5, 6-3.
In Delray Beach, Briton Julian Cash and American Robert Galloway upset second-seeded Monaco's Hugo Nys and Austrian Jan Zielinski 6-4, 7-5 to reach the final. On Sunday they will play top seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Neal Skupski, who defeated Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez 7-6(9), 7-6(5).
Friday, 16 February
The semi-final lineup at the ABN AMRO Open was completed early on Friday after home favourite Wesley Koolhof and his partner Nikola Mektic held firm for a straight-sets win against Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler at the indoor ATP 500.
Koolhof and Mektic prevailed 6-3, 7-6(5) in 84 minutes at Rotterdam Ahoy to set a last-four Saturday night meeting with top seeds and defending champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek. It was a second Lexus ATP Head2Head victory of the season for Koolhof and Mektic against Erler and Miedler — they also defeated the Austrian duo en route to the title in Auckland last month.
The other semi-final in Rotterdam will feature Koolhof’s countrymen Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp. The wild card pairing meets third-seeded Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow on Saturday afternoon.
Only one doubles match was contested Friday in Buenos Aires at the IEB+ Argentina Open, where Marcelo Melo and Matwe Middelkoop marched past Sebastian Baez and Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4, 6-3.
In Delray Beach, Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez overcame a stern test from Andrew Harris and Dominik Koepfer 7-6(2), 7-6(4) to set a semi-final meeting against top seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Neal Skupski. The bottom half of the draw will feature second seeds Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski clash against third seeds Julian Cash and Robert Galloway in the last four.
Thursday, 15 February
Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek kept alive their ABN AMRO Open title defence by prevailing amid Match Tie-break tension Thursday in Rotterdam.
The top-seeded pair overcame Andreas Mies and John-Patrick Smith 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 to reach the semi-finals at the indoor ATP 500 in the Netherlands. Dodig and Krajicek could only convert one of nine break points they earned but nonetheless held firm for a 97-minute victory.
Dodig and Krajicek, who finished 2023 by clinching the Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honours for the first time, will take on Alexander Erler/Lucas Miedler or Wesley Koolhof/Nikola Mektic next as they chase their first championship-match appearance of this season.
In the bottom half of the draw, Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp kept home interest in the doubles draw alive by beating Alexander Bublik and Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 for a semi-final berth. The wild card team will next take on third seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.
In Buenos Aires, top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos wasted little time sealing their semi-final spot at the IEB+ Argentina Open. The Spanish-Argentine combo downed Yannick Hanfmann and Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1, 6-3 in just 63 minutes at the clay-court ATP 250.
Granollers and Zeballos will next face fourth seeds Marcelo Melo/Matwe Middelkoop or Sebastian Baez/Thiago Seyboth Wild as they look to reclaim a trophy that they previously won in 2020.
In other ATP 250 action, Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski maintained their rock-solid start to 2024 at the Delray Beach Open by breezing past Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela to reach the semi-finals.
Nys and Zielinski converted all four break points they earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, as they won 6-2, 6-2 in 65 minutes to set a last-four clash with third seeds Julian Cash and Robert Galloway.
