Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori beat Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 7-6(6), 6-2 in their Vienna opener, a result that secured the Italian pair a third consecutive place at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, their last major event together.
Vienna, Austria: The Italians needed one win at the Erste Bank Open to settle their season, and they took it against a high-profile pairing. Confirmed by the ATP on Wednesday, the victory carried Bolelli and Vavassori into the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 event and into the Finals field for a third year running.
Edged in the first, clear in the second
Melo and Zverev pushed the first set to a tie-break, and Bolelli and Vavassori won it 8-6. The second set was one-sided at 6-2. Zverev, the top seed in the singles draw, had earlier saved four match points in a 13-11 tie-break to beat Martin Landaluce, and the latest Vienna Open round-up covers the singles quarter-final line-up.
A third straight trip to Turin
The pair have made the Finals three seasons in succession, reaching the semi-finals at the Inalpi Arena last year. Their record at the event stands at 3-4. This season they won three titles, at Rotterdam, Miami and Rome, and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros. Turin will have an all-Italian doubles team to support when the Nitto ATP Finals run from 15 to 22 November.
Four other pairs have already qualified: Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, and Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
A farewell in the making
The qualification comes with an end date. After their exit at the Shanghai Masters, Bolelli and Vavassori announced they would split at the end of the season, which makes Turin their last major event together. Before that, they have a Vienna quarter-final to play.
