Croatians Ivan Dodig & Nikola Mektić win ATP doubles titles

10 February 2019 – It has been a successful Sunday on the ATP tour for Croatian doubles players with titles going to Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektić. 

Dodig won his 12th ATP title of his career on Sunday when he won the Open Sud de France in Montpellier with Frenchman Eadouard Roger-Vasselin. The Croatian and French combination beat Benjamin Bonzi and Antoine Hoang in the final 6-4, 6-3. 

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🏆Winners 🏆 @opensuddefrance Thank you partner Eduard Roger-Vasselin #stillalottocome #nopainnogain #tennis🎾 #title14🏆

A post shared by Ivan Dodig (@ivan_dodig) on Feb 10, 2019 at 6:52am PST

Dodig and Roger-Vasselin took the first set after breaking their French opponents in the 10th game, whilst a break in the 6th game of the second set was enough to give them the match. The win means Dodig jumps 3 places on the ATP doubles ranking list to 31st. 

Meanwhile, Dodig’s Davis Cup teammate Nikola Mektić also won a title on Sunday. Mektić teamed up with Jurgen Melzer to win the ATP Sofia Open in Bulgaria. 

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Mektic and Melzer triumph at Sofia Open 2019 Doubles 🏆🔥💪🎾 Nikola Mektic and Jurgen Melzer won their first ATP Tour team final on Sunday. They defeated for the title another debutant team on a final – Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Christopher Rungkat 6:2, 4:6, 10:2 in just an hour and 7 minutes. The Chinese Taipei-Indonesian duo arrived in Bulgaria fresh off two straight-sets first-round losses at ATP Challenger Tour events. But they have found their best level this week, advancing to the championship match without dropping a set. Not only has the pair never made a tour-level final together before this, but it is also Hsieh and Rungkat’s maiden ATP Tour championship match individually. The double M team – Mektic and Meltzer, has much more experience together as a team. They first played together in 2018 at US Open and already have 7 wins and 2 defeats, including the tournament in Sofia. Sofia Open was their third event together, as they reached the third round at US Open and quarterfinals at Moscow 2018. Mektic has a little bit more experience in Sofia after playing the final last year, teamed with Aleksander Peya (l. to Haase/Middlekoop). This is his third ATP Doubles title, including winning his first-ever Masters 1000 title at Madrid. Melzer is pretty much more experienced, and he has won 2 Grand Slam titles (2010 Wimbledon and 2011 US Open). The match in Sofia was his 31st career final and he has won 14 of them. #ATP #atptour #Tennis #Sofia #Bulgaria #SofiaOpen #SofiaOpen2019 . . . 📸 @lap.bg

A post shared by Sofia Open (@sofiaopentennis) on Feb 10, 2019 at 6:44am PST

Mektić and Meltzer were too good for Cheng-peng Hsieh and Christopher Rungkat in the final, winning  6:2, 4:6, 10:2. The win was Mektić’s 5th ATP title.