Austrian Oliver Marach and his Croatian doubles partner Mate Pavic have lost the final at the Rothenbaum in Hamburg. The top seeded Australian Open winners lost to Julio Peralta/Horacio Zeballos (Chile/Argentina) on Sunday with 1:6, 6:4 and 6:10 in the match tiebreak.
After 1:23 hours the defeat for the favourites on the Centre Court was sealed. After all, Marach/Pavic still had a total prize money of 51,470 Euros and 300 points for the world rankings. Peralta/Zeballos collected 105,140 Euros (plus 500 points).
Small consolation: Marach and left-handed Pavic had already qualified for the Nitto ATP finale in London in November by participating in the final in the Hanseatic city. The participation in the tournament of the best eight double teams in 2018 is the logical consequence of the team’s outstanding season.
The native of Graz (with his home in Panama) and the Croatian from Split are among the title contenders for every tournament participation this year – and the duo has meanwhile also taken the lead in the double world rankings.
The 25-year-old Pavic was ranked number one in the world rankings at the beginning of July. Pavic and the 38-year-old Austrian qualified for the final tournament in London last year, which ended after the group stage.
Earlier this year Marach/Pavic celebrated their triumph at the Australian Open, playing their way into nine more finals, winning four titles. At the French Open, the successful duo lost to Frenchman Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the final.
The decisive points for the early qualification were collected by Marach/Pavic at the ATP tournament in Hamburg. At Rothenbaum, Marach/Pavic won 2:6, 6:4 and a 10:7 match tiebreak against Daniell/Kolhoff in the semi-finals on Friday.
“For me, it’s the best tournament in the world. The people and fans in London are simply outstanding,” Pavic explained to ATP after the news of safe participation in the English metropolis.