ATP: Miami: Marach/Pavic after thriller in second round

Austrian Oliver Marach and his Croatian partner Mate Pavic have reached the second round of the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami after a real battle of nerves.

The third seeded Australian Open winners defeated the Spanish combination Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez in 1:42 hours with 4:6, 7:6 (7:2), 11:9. In the match for the quarter-finals, a special game awaits. Marach (37) and Pavic (24) will face the Zverev brothers Alexander and Mischa (Hamburg), who beat Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico) and Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-4, 6-3 in their opening match.

Marach/Pavic, who celebrated their biggest success to date at the major event Down Under at the end of January, failed in two sets last week in the semi-finals of Indian Wells due to later tournament winners John Isner and Jack Sock (both USA). The Grazer and the left-hander from Split have already won three titles (Auckland, Doha, Melbourne) in 2018 and only lost three of their 22 victories.