Lindstedt/Struff Lift Maiden Team Trophy In Metz
Lindstedt/Struff Lift Maiden Team Trophy In Metz
Unseeded duo defeated three of top four seeded pairings
Robert Lindstedt and Jan-Lennard Struff capped their debut week as a team with a trophy at the Moselle Open on Sunday, beating Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 2-6, 7-6(1), 10-4.
Lindstedt and Struff were forced to come from a set down against the defending champions, who saved all seven break points they faced to boost their hopes of a second straight Metz trophy. But the Swedish-German pairing played with confidence in crucial moments to claim the win against the top seeds after 89 minutes.
Lindstedt and Struff’s title hopes were almost ended in the second round, but the unseeded pairing managed to save three match points against Gilles Simon and Mischa Zverev in a second-set tie-break before prevailing in another Match Tie-break. Lindstedt and Struff’s remaining three wins all came against seeded teams, having also overcome second seeds Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan and fourth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi en route to the championship match.
“I am very happy. It was a lot of fun to play with Robert. He is playing very good,” said Struff. “We worked very good as a team this week, with some tight matches earlier in the week… I am really happy that he played this week and I am very, very happy about the win.”
Lindstedt has now captured 23 trophies from 48 tour-level finals. The former World No. 3 was appearing in his second ATP Tour championship match of the season after a runner-up finish at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open (w/Ebden) in May.
“It’s been a great week. I am really happy Struff asked me to play… It was a no-brainer for me to say yes,” said Lindstedt. “We had a really good first round with an unbelievable fight in the tie-break. Coming through such a tight match really helped us for the rest of the matches when the points were tight and we played our best tennis at that time.”
Struff improves to 3-2 in ATP Tour doubles finals. The 29-year-old adds to trophies alongside McLachlan at last year’s Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships and the ASB Classic in January.
Mahut and Roger-Vasselin were both bidding to win their fourth titles in Metz. The Frenchmen have lifted the trophy as a team on two occasions (2012, ’18) and also earned two further tournament victories each alongside different partners. Mahut won back-to-back Metz trophies in 2003 (w/Benneteau) and 2004 (w/Clement), while Roger-Vasselin triumphed in 2015 (w/Kubot) and 2017 (w/Benneteau).
Lindstedt and Struff receive 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points and split €29,650 in prize money. Mahut and Roger-Vasselin earn 150 points and share €15,200.