Mate Pavić

[Damian]

[Damian]

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic delivered on Sunday at the Davis Cup Finals to seal Croatia’s qualification from Group D in Turin.

The pair has won nine tour-level titles this season and showed their experience to move past Fabian Marozsan and Peter Nagy 7-6(6), 6-2 in one hour and 30 minutes to seal a 2-1 win for Croatia against Hungary.

“We wanted to win and give a statement and now we will go into tomorrow’s match with confidence,” Mektic said. “We won a tight first set again, but we are happy to win.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/croatia ... 021-sunday

[Art]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Mektic & Pavic End Italy's Davis Cup Dreams In Turin

Spoiler:

Croatia will next play Serbia or Kazakhstan
Jannik Sinner made a dramatic comeback to keep Italy's chances alive against Croatia on Monday at the Davis Cup Finals, but Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic quickly halted Italy's momentum to send their country to the semi-finals.

Mektic and Pavic, who won nine tour-level titles this year, defeated Sinner and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4 in 79 minutes to clinch the quarter-final tie for Croatia, 2-1. The year-end No. 1 FedEx ATP Doubles Team did not face a break point in their victory.

Mektic and Pavic were plenty familiar with the Pala Alpitour, having reached the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals last week. The Croatians will now play Serbia or Kazakhstan in Madrid for a place in the championship tie.

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jann ... ew'>Jannik Sinner</a>
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Earlier in the day Sinner, who also competed at the same venue last week in the Nitto ATP Finals, had his back against the wall when he took the court against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic. But the Italian showcased a mixture of grit and flair to edge Cilic 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 and level the tie

Sinner was a set and a break down against the 33-year-old, who served for the match, before he rallied to triumph in front of a raucous crowd in Turin after two hours and 43 minutes. The World No. 10 committed just 11 unforced errors and lifted his arms in delight after sealing victory on his second match point.

“The most important thing is we are still here,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “It is the most amazing feeling. We will try to do the best in the doubles. I just tried to stay there. It was not easy trying to break him for the match, but I just tried my best. We are here at 1-1.”

You May Also Like: Who's Your Favourite Player & Team? Vote Now In 2021 ATP Awards
In the first match of the tie, Borna Gojo surprised World No. 27 Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-2 to give Croatia a 1-0 lead.

The World No. 279 played well above his FedEx ATP Ranking against Sonego, striking 20 winners and hitting with great power and depth to triumph after two hours and 19 minutes.

"It feels amazing," Gojo said in his on-court interview. "We knew we had to get one point from the two singles. We are confident with our doubles team. The support was unbelievable. They are so loud. Some of my best friends and family are here and I want to thank them with all my heart for coming."

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/croatia ... 021-monday

[Barty]

[robpal]

[Barty]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Mektic & Pavic Spoil Djokovic-Led Serbia's Davis Cup Dreams

Spoiler:

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic defeated Djokovic and Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-1 to complete Croatia's 2-1 triumph against Serbia, sending their country into the championship tie in Madrid. Croatia will face the Russian Tennis Federation or Germany for the trophy.

In front of Real Madrid star Luka Modric, Mektic and Pavic were cool under pressure. The Croatians grew stronger as the rubber went on, and after Djokovic missed a final forehand return, the year-end No. 1 FedEx ATP Doubles Team lifted their arms in celebration.

Djokovic won his singles and doubles (w/Nikola Cacic) rubbers in the quarter-finals against Kazakhstan. On Friday, he made a good start by claiming the No. 1 singles rubber against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, but the Croatian tandem was too strong in doubles.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/croatia ... 021-friday

[robpal]

[Barty]

2021 w liczbach (debel):

Ranking: 1
Bilans meczów: 65-14
Tytuły: 9 (Tokio Olympics (w/Nikola Mektic), Wimbledon ( w/ Nikola Mektic), Eastbourne (w/Nikola Mektic), ATP Masters 1000 Rzym (w/Nikola Mektic), ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (w/Nikola Mektic), ATP Masters 1000 Miami (w/Nikola Mektic), Rotterdam (w/Nikola Mektic), Melbourne 2 (w/Nikola Mektic), Antalya (w/Nikola Mektic))
Finały: 3 (ATP Masters 1000 Kanada (w/Nikola Mektic), ATP Masters 1000 Madryt (w/Nikola Mektic), Dubaj (w/Nikola Mektic))
Zarobki: $746,978

[Barty]

[Damian]

Mektic & Pavic Save 3 Match Points In AO Opener

Spoiler:

Croatians next face Aussies Kokkinakis and Kyrgios
Croatia’s Australian Open doubles top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have set a tantalising second-round encounter with Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, but not before saving three match points in a nail-biting second-set tie-break against Facundo Bagnis and Federico Delbonis.

The 2021 Wimbledon champions converted just two of 18 break points as they faced an early exit, before rallying to defeat the Argentines 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-4.

John Peers, the World No. 12 and highest-ranked Australian in the draw, saw off compatriots Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 6-3, 7-5 with his partner, Slovakian Filip Polasek. Peers won his only Grand Slam title in Melbourne in 2017 (w/Henri Kontinen) and will hope to repeat the success this year with Polasek after the pairing showed good form in taking the ATP 250 Sydney Tennis Classic title last week (d. Bolelli/Fognini).

Seventh seeds Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin fell to Kazakh Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-2. Mahut won the 2019 Australian Open (w/ Pierre-Hugues Herbert) and enjoyed a first title with Martin at the ATP 250 event in Antwerp in October, but the French pairing made only 50 per cent of first serves as they fell at the first hurdle in Melbourne.

Ninth-seeded Croatian-Brazilian pairing Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo had no such problems, winning 83 per cent of points on first serve as they edged France’s Adrian Mannarino and Monaco’s Hugo Nys 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/mektic- ... alian-open

[Bombardiero]

[Bombardiero]

[Damian]

The Tour - A Day In The Life With Mektic & Pavic

Spoiler:

Learn more about the Croatian doubles stars
Nine titles. A major championship at Wimbledon. Gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Year-end No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

Last season was full of accomplishments for Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who dominated the ATP Tour for most of 2021. So what’s their secret?

There is not one thing in particular that helped the Croatians become the best doubles team in the world. However, they do a lot of small things that make a difference in their matches and relationship on and off the court. It is not all about serves and returns or groundstrokes and volleys.

“I think it’s very important to have a decent relationship," Pavic said. "We like to trash talk to each other a little bit. I think it’s important to have a good laugh during the day. Even before we started playing together, we’ve known each other for years now. We’ve been good friends off court for a while now, so I think it helps. It helps a lot.”

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mate ... view'>Mate Pavic</a> and <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/niko ... ew'>Nikola Mektic</a>
Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
If you follow the pair around for the day, you will notice that they do not take themselves too seriously. Last year in Toronto, the Croatians allowed an ATP camera crew to trail them for a day to gain a look into their lives on the circuit. And one thing that became clear was that they enjoy plenty of banter.

Take for example when they were stretching on the field. Mektic began by hanging out and relaxing before doing more intense stretching later on, and Pavic made sure the cameras caught that moment, joking that his partner was slacking off.

When it came time for their practice later, Mektic was chatting at a table with former partner Alexander Peya instead of heading to the court. Again, Mektic was — in a funny way — on his case. When Pavic went inside to the gym to use the weight machines, Mektic remained outside to stretch.

“Obviously we don’t do the same things. He has his own coach, I have my own coach. We do that part separately,” Mektic said, before cracking a laugh. “There is already too much of seeing him in a day. I’m kidding!”

The pair and their coaches enjoy playing UNO, but they had to add trash talk and a bit of competitive flair to it. The losers had to stand at the shuttle and transportation signs standing still in front of their peers for three and five minutes, respectively. On that day, Mektic finished last (five minutes) and Pavic (three minutes) also was punished.

They both took it in stride, and enjoyed speaking to the camera crew to pass the time. A producer asked Mektic if it was more painful to lose a match on court or in UNO?

“This is much worse!” Mektic said, cracking a laugh.

Nikola Pavic and <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mate ... view'>Mate Pavic</a> at <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archi ... lts'>Nitto ATP Finals</a> media day in Turin.
Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
“I think we’ve got a good thing going, all of us. Not just the players, but the whole team, spending a lot of time together,” Pavic said. “So we’re a good crew and I think that helps a lot, also sometimes that you just do a little your own thing so you’re not obviously together all the time.”

Pavic mentioned that some days, they might not even see each other at all. Of course that is rare, but the time away keeps their relationship on and off court fresh, preventing them from burning out as a pair.

“I think we communicate a lot on the court, even more during a match than before the match,” Mektic said. “On the court we talk a lot and we understand each other and we try to find the best solution regarding the situation on the court.”

On court, the righty Mektic is more of a control-oriented player, while Pavic, a lefty, is more dynamic with plenty of power and shotmaking ability.

“We’re both good players. We have different game styles, so that’s something that maybe is helping us out. There are a lot of guys who have similar game type,” Pavic said. “I think we are both very different game-wise, so maybe that’s the thing that separates us a little bit.”

According to Vlad Kaplarevic, Pavic’s coach, it is not just their skills that help them.

“What makes this team work I would say good energy, support and obviously confidence,” Kaplarevic said. “If you are winning a lot of matches, confidence helps a lot… [it has been] a big surprise for everybody, to be honest.”

Both men enjoyed strong partnerships before 2021, with Pavic finishing year-end No. 1 with Bruno Soares and Mektic winning the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals alongside Wesley Koolhof. But they took a risk to join forces and that paid dividends.

“Did I believe that we were going to win all of that? No,” Pavic said. “But I did expect we were going to play well and we were going to be one of the best teams.”

They will hope that remains the case in 2022.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/the-tou ... pavic-2022

[Damian]

[Barty]

Mektic/Pavic Top Seeds In Doubles: Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic will continue their bid for their first title of the season as the top seeds in Dubai. American-British tandem Rajeev Ram and Joe Sailsbury are the second seeds, with John Peers and Filip Polasek seeded third. Tim Puetz and Michael Venus are the fourth seeds.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/acapulc ... ing-report

[Damian]

Mektic/Pavic Reach SFs In Dubai

Spoiler:

Fourth seeds Puetz/Venus advance
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic reached the semi-finals at a tour-level event for the first time this season on Wednesday, downing Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-4, 7-3(3) at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The top seeds won nine tour-level crowns in 2021, but are still seeking their first trophy in 2022. They saved the one break point they faced to advance after 89 minutes. The Croatians are aiming to go one step further in Dubai this week, after enjoying a run to the final last year.

The Croatians will next play third seeds Filip Polasek and John Peers after the Poles received a walkover from Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner.

You May Also Like: Djokovic Continues Title Charge In Dubai
Fourth seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus booked their spot in the quarter-finals with a 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 win over lucky losers Jonathan Erlich and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Puetz and Venus clinched tour-level trophies in Hamburg and Paris last season. The German-New Zealand tandem will next take on Andrey Golubev and Fabrice Martin.

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski moved into the last eight after second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury were forced to retire during the match. Koolhoof and Skupski were leading 7-6(4) when the action was stopped.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/doubles ... -wednesday