Krawietz/Mies celebrate first victory

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are keeping their chance of reaching the semi-finals of the ATP finals in London alive by winning their first doubles match.

Two-time French Open winners Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies kept their dream of reaching the semi-finals at the ATP Finals in London alive.

The duo from Coburg and Cologne reacted to the opening bankruptcy with a strong performance in the second preliminary round match and defeated the former Wimbledon winners Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo (Poland/Brazil) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

With another success in the final match of the group “Mike Bryan” against the Australian Open winners Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury (USA/Great Britain) on Thursday, Krawietz (28) and Mies (30) can move into the semi-finals as the first German doubles ever at the season’s conclusion of the eight best of the year. Last year they had already failed in the preliminary round at their premiere in London.

Against the experienced Kubot (38) and Melo (37), who still had the upper hand in the semi-finals of the ATP tournament in Vienna at the end of October, Krawietz and Mies convinced especially in the first set with an aggressive return game.

The Polish-Brazilian duo, however, found their way into the match better after losing the first set and served more confidently, but Krawietz/Mies still managed to win the contested second set and the match after 1:22 hours.