Murray and Soares move closer to Turin
JAMIE MURRAY took another step towards this month’s ATP Finals in Turin after the veteran Scot and his partner Brazilian Bruno Soares won yesterday’s St Petersburg Open doubles final in Russia.
The No.1 seeds dropped just one set all week and broke serve three times on their way to a dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory over fourth seeds Andrey Golubev from Kazakhstan and Hugo Nys from Monaco.
It was their second title this year following success in Melbourne in February and their 12th win together overall.
“We had a great week here, and played a lot of good tennis,” said Murray. “We knew we had to have a good week if we wanted to qualify for the final tournament in Turin.
“It has been a long year for us, but I think we are coming good at the right time. We played a lot of good tennis throughout the week.”
Soares added: “It is an amazing city, amazing tournament and courts. It is really nice to play here, I think we got inspiration for the beautiful place and the city.
“It is my first time here,
I was quite amazed and impressed, so I think we brought a good energy into the court and managed to play a lot of good tennis.”
Murray and Soares are eighth in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings and in the final qualification spot for the season finale, to be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from November 14-21.
“The odds of getting to Turin [for the ATP Finals] are getting higher every match we win,” smiled Murray after clinching his 26th career title in one hour and 20 minutes..
“We have a lead of over 500 points on the team behind us, but winning in Paris [this week] is worth 1,000 points, so while we are in a good position, we still need to go to Paris and have a good week there.”
In the men’s final, Marin Cilic became just the sixth player to claim 20 tour-level titles when he defeated Taylor Fritz in the final 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
The Croatian said: “During the whole week I think my level was really good. I felt that I can still get my game to a better level and it was a little bit similar today.”
In Vienna, Alexander Zverev clinched his fifth title of the year at the Erste Bank Open with a 7-5, 6-4, victory over Frances Tiafoe.
“He didn’t let me play the way I wanted to play, tactically he was very good,” Zverev said. “But I am happy with the win and I am happy with my fifth title of the year and I am happy with my first in Vienna, so it was a good day.”
Anett Kontaveit won the inaugural Transylvania Open with a two-set victory over Simona Halep.
The No.2 seed from Estonia beat the home favourite Halep 6-2, 6-3 to win her fourth title of the season, all of which have come in the last 10 weeks.
“I’m still unsure of what’s going on!” said Kontaveit, who has grabbed the eighth and final spot at the Akron WTA Finals with the win. “Of course, I’m incredibly happy that I managed to play really well today and win the final.
“That was the main focus and I’m really, really proud of myself that I managed to do that.”