Nicolas Mahut/ Roger-Vasselin oust Smyczek/ Williams in final –
Newport ATP 2013
French star, Nicolas Mahut, enjoyed double success at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships as he not only grabbed the singles title but also ruled the doubles event. He alongside Edouard Roger-Vasselin conquered the American duo,
Tim Smyczek and Rhyne Williams, in a three-set nail-biter at this ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in Newport, Rhode Island.
Twenty hours after shelving his second ATP World Tour title by stunning the former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, the French challenger joined forces with Roger-Vasselin to capture the doubles title. He needed one hour and 33
minutes to jolt down a 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-5 victory against the Americans. With this triumph, Mahut became the first man to enjoy doubles success in Newport since Rajeev Ram (alongside Jordan Kerr) stole the show in both events four years ago. Besides these two,
Dan Goldie also enjoyed double success at this hard court event in 1987.
"I feel really honoured to be one of the three," said the beaming French veteran in a post match press conferecne. "I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent at the beginning, but in the end, I played good at the right time and Edouard played
really well."
Mahut is also the first man since Mikhail Youzhny (who joined forces with Marcos Baghdatis) in February last season at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors to capture both singles and doubles title at an ATP World Tour event.
The 31-year-old further reflected about his achievement, "First to win the singles is a big accomplishment. To win the same week, singles and doubles, it is the first time it has happened to me in my career, and it’s amazing. When
I look back a month ago, I was ranked 240, then I played the French Open in doubles, won two titles, won another one in doubles, it’s just a great achievement."
The in-form Americans made a comfortable start in this match. They played carefully and not only dragged the opening set to a tie-breaker but prevailed in it to clinch the opener with a 7-6(4) score line.
Mahut and Roger-Vasselin lifted their game in the following set. They cashed their break opportunities and grabbed the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
In the deciding set, the Frenchmen dominated in the super tie-breaker and eventually clicked the decider with a 10-5 victory.
With this epic triumph, Mahut and Roger-Vasselin bagged $25,000 in prize money and earned 250 Emirates Airways ATP World Tour Rankings points. This was the pair’s fourth team title together. The runner-up on the other hand earned
$13,140 and pocketed 150 ATP ranking points. The French tandem previously captured titles at the Moselle Open, the Open 13 and the Open Sud de France earlier this season.
Tags: