Even in the absence of the year’s best Oliver Marach, two German-speaking players are still in the quarter-finals in Madrid: Alexander Peya and Jan-Lennard Struff.
Jan-Lennard Struff then took a very exact revenge on Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram: The Croatian and the American had brought Struff’s winning streak with Davis Cup partner Tim Pütz to a rude end last Saturday in Munich, with 6:1 and 6:3.
Struff left Madrid with exactly the same result on Thursday with Dodig/Ram, but this time alongside Ben McLachlan, with whom he had already reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open this season. The next task for the German-Japanese mating is not getting any easier: On the court Arantxa Sanchez the two Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Perre-Hugues Herbert (not before 4:00 pm) are waiting.
A little later Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya, two Dodig/Ram victims from Munich, had to admit defeat in the final. A place in the semi-finals is up for grabs, while Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus, two proven double experts, will be on the other side.
After the arduous opening win against Kevin Anderson and Max Mirnyi, Mektic/Peya did not let anything burn in the round of 16 against Henri Kontinen and John Peers, they won in two sets. A meeting with Jan-Lennard Struff and Ben McLachlan would only be possible in the final, before that Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo might wait. Against whom Peya and his partner won in Munich.
For everyone involved it is of course about improving their position in the Race to London: Alexander Peya with Mektic is currently fifth, Jan-Lennard Struff with Ben McLachlan is one position behind him.
Here is the double tableau in Madrid