Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer raised their game spectacularly amidst the tension of a Match Tie-break Saturday to reach their maiden ATP Masters 1000 final as a team at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.
The Salvadoran-Dutch pair prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in Toronto to book a championship-match appointment against Rajeev Ram amd Joe Salisbury. Arevalo and Rojer won eight of the final 10 points from 2/3 in the Match Tie-break against Granollers and Zeballos to complete a 93-minute semi-final win.
Coming up clutch 💪@CheloArevaloATP and Jean-Julien Rojer book their final tickets 6-3 3-6 10-5 over Granollers/Zeballos
📸 @NBOtoronto | #NBO23 pic.twitter.com/e7OkXVDSzR
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 12, 2023
The six-time ATP Tour champion team Arevalo and Rojer delivered a strong returning display to notch their second victory in three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Granollers and Zeballos. They carved out seven break points across the three sets, although they were only able to convert one as their opponents forced the Match Tie-break.
Arevalo and Rojer’s previous victory against Granollers and Zeballos came at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. Their performances in Toronto this week have boosted their chances of qualifying for the prestigious season finale for a second straight year: Arevalo and Rojer have so far risen three spots to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings as a result of their run at Sobeys Stadium.
Third seeds Ram and Salisbury defeated Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4, 6-4 later on Saturday to advance to their second ATP Tour final of the season. The American-British pairing is seeking its second title of the year following a clay-court triumph in Lyon.
In their one-hour, 15-minute semi-final victory, Ram/Salisbury broke serve three times on eight chances while winning 79 per cent (27/34) of their first-serve points.
The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champions are seeking their second Toronto title after winning at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 in 2021.
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