Barcelona Open: Big win for Tsitsipas and Mahut in doubles

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nikola Mahout had an excellent debut at the Barcelona Open, beating Matve Midelkup and Andreas Mies with 7-6(2), 6-4 Secure qualification for the quarterfinals of the tournament.

A win that was no accident as it was achieved against two experienced doubles players, with Middelkup counting 14 career doubles titles while being a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, while Mies is a two-time French Open winner (2019 , 2020), while they won the Barcelona Open together with Kevin Kravitz last year.

Of course, we don’t forget the most experienced doubles player of all, the French mahout with 5 Grand Slams and 7 Masters 1000, most of which he won with his almost inseparable partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

After a “closed” 1st set, in which Tsitsipas and Mahout had to assert themselves strongly in the 3rd game with two break points (2:1), the two pairs went into a tie-break, where the Greek-French duo proved to be more cautious .

First, they immediately recovered the Middelcup/Mis mini-break to draw 1-1, then converted 1-2 to 7-2 and took a 1-0 lead.

The 2nd set started perfectly for Tsitsipas and Mahut, who got the break after 4 magic returns, three from Tsitsipas and one from Mahut, a break they took full advantage of immediately afterwards to take a 2-0 lead.

In fact, Tsitsipas and Mahout had the opportunity to grab a second break in the next game, trying to take advantage of Midelkup’s bad swing, which made several mistakes, but Midelkup and Mies not only managed to erase the double break point, shortening to 2: 1 but then recovered lost serve, a break they redeemed with an easy hold and a 3-2 lead.

The decisive break for Tsitsipas and Mahout came in the 9th game, leading again with 5-4, but also the balls in hands, especially in Stefanos Tsitsipas’ hands, to end the match, but also the ticket to the quarterfinals. Finale, something they did with a relatively simple grip.

In the round of 16, Tsitsipas and Mahout meet the winners from the matchup of table no. 1 and last year’s finalists Kuhlhof/Skapski, who will play Bolelli/Granole on Wednesday (April 19).

SOURCE: Tennis24