Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares, the number 1 seed, started their Nitto ATP Finals campaign successfully after defeating seventh Jürgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6: 7 (1), 6: 1.10: 4. Pavic and Soares had the first sentence point at 6-5 in the tie-break of the first set, but could not realize it and a few points later Melzer and Roger-Vasselin converted their first sentence point to win a tight first set.
Pavic and Soares had an angry reaction when they won the first five games of the second set before serving for a third set in the seventh game.
Pavic and Soares made a great run
Melzer and Roger-Vasselin led the tie-break 3-2 after the first five points, but Pavic and Soares then won six points in a row and took an 8-3 lead.
In the opening game of the day, the number 4 seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos took their first victory as a team in the O2 Arena after they beat the sixth seeds John Peers and Michael Venus in two close sets with 7: 6 (2), 7: 5 had displaced.
Peers and Venus had the only breakpoints of the first set in game six, but Granollers and Zeballos saved two breakpoints to eventually force a tie-break that they dominated to win a tight first set.
After dropping the first set, Peers and Venus got off to a fantastic start to the second set when they took an early break – but their lead didn’t last long when Granollers and Zeballos broke back the sixth seeds in game four to level up reach at 2-2.
Granollers and Zeballos saved a breakpoint in the seventh game, another breakpoint in the ninth game, but could not realize their first match point in the tenth game. Peers and Venus saved two consecutive match points in game 12 but failed to save the third set as Granollers and Zeballos converted their fourth match point to claim the win in an hour and 42 minutes.
Zeballos, who is number 3 in the world on the double list, did not hide his luck after a successful tournament start. “I feel really happy now. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Zeballos after the game on the Nitto ATP Finals website.
“Just being here is really nice for me. It’s the first time I have [hierher] come so i try to enjoy it all. “Granollers is performing at the O2 Arena for the fifth time, but for the first time with Zeballos.
“It’s really nice to be here with Horacio. It’s my fifth time here so I’m very happy,” said Granollers. “To start with a two-set win, there is no better way to begin”
