Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop captured their first ATP World Tour doubles together on Sunday as they defeated top seeds Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 6-4 in the St. Petersburg Open final.

It is the 27-year-old Jebavy’s second ATP World Tour title after lifting the Istanbul trophy with Czech countryman Jiri Vesely in May. Middelkoop claimed his fourth career crown and second of the year, following victory in Sydney with Wesley Koolhof.

“We always wanted to play together but it was about finding the right moment,” said Middelkoop. “We first played in Gstaad a few months ago and then decided to play here and it was an excellent choice. We had great energy and I think that gave us this result.

“My mom is Russian and my grandmother is Russian. I was raised Russian and I lived there for a year. I have a nice feeling playing here. St. Petersburg is my second second city and to bring my grandmother to the middle of the centre court and see everyone cheering for her is an emotional moment.”

Against the top seeds in the final, the Czech/Dutch duo converted two of their seven break points to prevail in 62 minutes, winning 75 per cent of their service points.

“Last Saturday, I played Davis Cup against Matwe and then Monday morning we flew here,” said Jebavy. “We played our best and did really well. This is just a great tournament. I hope to be back next year.”

Jebavy and Middelkoop were playing together for just the second time this week, after making the Gstaad semi-final in July, and only dropped one set en route to the title at this ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament. 

Against the top seeds in the final, the Czech/Dutch duo converted two of their seven break points to prevail in 62 minutes, winning 75 per cent of their service points. They received 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and shared $54,220 in prize money.

Peralta and Zeballos were bidding for their fifth title together and dropped to a 4-3 finals record.

Home favourite Benoit Paire will go for his second ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Moselle Open in Metz. The Frenchman snapped an eight-match semi-final losing streak on Saturday, beating Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 7-6(5).

The seventh seed struck 17 aces and saved all four break points against Basilashvili, who was looking to reach his second indoor ATP World Tour final of the season. The right-hander fell to Ryan Harrison of the U.S. in the Memphis Open final in February.

Before Saturday, Paire had lost all eight semi-finals he had played since October 2015, when he beat Kei Nishikori to reach the Tokyo final. But Paire improved to 3-0 against Basilashvili in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series to reach his fifth ATP World Tour final. Paire’s previous title was at 2015 Bastad (d. Robredo).

The 6’5” Paire will face a first-time finalist in German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who advanced when fifth seed and compatriot Mischa Zverev retired down 6-3, 1-0 because of the flu. Gojowczyk continues his strong second half of the season.

The 28 year old made the semi-finals at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport. He is the sixth qualifier to advance to an ATP World Tour final this season. The last qualifier to win an ATP World Tour title was Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at 2015 ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Doubles Final Set

Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin denied Paire a chance for two Metz titles. The third seeds beat Paire and Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 to reach Sunday’s doubles final. They will meet New Zealand’s Artem Sitak and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof.

Fabio Fognini saved two match points as he prevailed in a gripping semi-final clash with Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Open, edging the top-seeded Spaniard 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5).

Fognini will look to win his sixth ATP World Tour title when he faces Damir Dzumhur in Sunday’s final of this ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament. Dzumhur reached his second ATP World Tour final as he defeated eighth seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 7-5.

Fognini, who was a finalist in St. Petersburg five years ago (l. to Klizan), battled past Bautista Agut in a pulsating clash, lasting two hours and 28 minutes. Bautista Agut led the contest 6-2, 3-1 and held two match points at 6/5 and 7/6 in the second set tie-break, but could not close out the win. Neither player could engineer a break of serve in the decider, and from 3/5 down in the tie-break, Fognini won the last four points to prevail.

“It was a really tough match at the beginning,” said Fognini. “He was playing really fast and really solid at the same time. I’m really happy that I came back to win.”

The 30-year-old Fognini is chasing his second title of the season, following victory on clay in Gstaad in July (d. Hanfmann). This would be his first hard-court title. The right-hander leads Dzumhur 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

The 25-year-old Dzumhur is enjoying a career-best year and has surged to a career-high World No. 55 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Los Cabos (l. to Querrey) followed by his first final in Winston-Salem (l. to Bautista Agut).

In his first ATP meeting with the 6’5’’ Struff, the 5’9’’ Dzumhur withstood seven aces as he converted five of his seven break points to prevail in 80 minutes.

“It was a great day for me,” said Dzumhur. “I played from the start until the end at a high level. I think I took my chances. Today was one of the best matches of the past few months for me. I’m really happy to go through to my second final.

“I knew that I had to play better than yesterday (against Liam Broady) and I tried to fix the things that didn’t work yesterday, especially my serve and my forehand. Also, my returns were great. I was making him play more, because he likes fast points. I think I won because I didn’t give him easy balls that he likes.”

Jebavy/Middelkoop Upset Second Seeds
Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop reached their first ATP World Tour doubles final together as they denied second seeds Nicholas Monroe and John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-1. The Czech/Dutch duo will face top seeds Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos in the final.