Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek captured their first ATP Masters 1000 crown as a team Sunday when they saved two match points to overcome Monegasque-Austrian wild cards Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn 6-0, 4-6, 14-12 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
In a dramatic final at the clay-court event, the fifth seeds raced out of the blocks to quickly clinch the first set, before they saved two match points in the Match Tie-break at 9/10 and 11/12 to eventually advance after one hour and 33 minutes.
“It’s amazing, I think,” said Dodig. “This is the one I was missing in my collection and I played the final I think in 2014. It’s great. I think every player who plays tennis at a professional level wants to win this tournament. It’s the first tournament on clay, it’s so prestigious and I’m really, really happy to have this trophy.”
Your 2023 @ROLEXMCMASTERS Doubles Champions 🏆 @DodigTennis | @AustinKrajicek | #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/DKj804Wpbz
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 16, 2023
Monegasque Arneodo was aiming to become the first home player to win the title in the Principality in the Open Era (since 1968). The 30-year-old and Austrian Weissborn arrived in Monte-Carlo holding a 2-4 tour-level record, but enjoyed a dream run to the final, upsetting seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury and Lloyd Glasspool/Harri Heliovaara.
Backed by vocal support on Court Rainier III, they battled hard in the title match, but ultimately fell short, with Dodig and Krajicek holding their nerve in the closing stages to triumph.
“I think Romain and Sam played amazing all week,” said Dodig. “They beat unbelievable teams, some of the best teams in the world… They showed how good they can play and the [Match Tie-break] was really exciting and just really happy to win this one in an exciting match.”
Dodig and Krajicek have now won five tour-level titles as a team, with two coming on clay (Lyon 2022). The 38-year-old Dodig, who lost in the Monte-Carlo final in 2014 with Marcelo Melo, has now clinched six ATP Masters 1000 crowns. Sunday’s success is the 32-year-old Krajicek’s first at this level.
“We played great,” added Krajicek. “I mean, obviously being in a beautiful place like this, it’s hard not to feel good. I thought we played good tennis all week. Served well and played well on the big moments. Today, those guys came up with some good stuff in the second set and when there’s a tie-breaker it’s always a little bit of a coin flip. So you just never know and it came down to a few points there at the end. Luckily, we were able to get it to go our way today.”
The Croatian-American pair is up 13 spots to fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings following their title success.