Peers & Polasek Win Indian Wells Doubles Title

  • Posted: Oct 17, 2021

John Peers and Filip Polasek survived a rollercoaster second set to edge Aslan Karatsev and Andrey Rublev 6-3 7-6(5) to win the BNP Paribas Open doubles title Saturday night.

The Australian-Slovakian duo was unable to convert two match points on Rublev’s serve at 5-3 and then dropped serve in the following game when trying to serve out the match. The teams then traded breaks before entering a tie-break, in which Peers and Polasek rallied from 3/5 down to clinch the title.

“It’s always great fun getting back to the desert and playing here,” Peers said. “To be able to say we have won the title here is very special. We started pretty slow as a team but we put in some good work pre-US Open.

“It’s been a lot of fun since and we’ve continued to work and enjoy playing together. We’re riding the doubles rollercoaster and will try to get results like this more often. We’re looking forward to continuing together.”

Peers, 33, and Polasek, 36, continued their strong recent form, having reached the final at the San Diego Open leading into the tournament.

Peers won his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title (first since Canada 2018) and his 25th career title. Polasek won his 16th title and second Masters 1000 (Cincinnati 2019).

”I’m really happy the way we played,” Polasek said. “We came here early, which helped us to adapt to the conditions. It was very different to play in the day than in the night sessions, which we played in our last matches, and we were probably able to adapt the best of all teams.”

Karatsev, 28, and Rublev, 23, were on an eight-match winning streak. They won the Doha title earlier in the year.

Source link