ATP Finals: Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic throw out Kyrgios and Kokkinakis
Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic also won their last group match at the Nitto ATP Finals. The Croatian duo threw Kyrgios/Kokkinakis out of the tournament.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Nov 18, 2022, 08:15 pm
Decision day at the Nitto ATP Finals: While there was a big fight in the clash between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, it was no longer about vacant places in the semifinals at the season finale, the crowd favorites Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis had on Friday evening their progress in their own hands. With Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic, however, quite strong opponents.
The Croatian duo won the first two group games and had a comfortable starting situation: In all scenarios, the duo would make it into the semi-finals on Friday. And after the first set in a duel with Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, the two Croatians also secured first place - the duo played an excellent first set from the server's point of view and benefited in particular from a double fault by Kokkinakis in the following tie-break. With 7:6 (4), the first round went to the light favourites.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis out
The key of this match did not change much in the second half either: there were still many fast service games to be seen - also because Kyrgios and Kokkinakis pushed the pace a lot thanks to their individual habit. However, Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic were not far behind the two Australians in this regard. Accordingly, after almost one and a half hours of play, it was again a tie-break that had to decide in this sentence. And again, Kokkinakis wobbled first.
The Australian had to give up both points on his own serve, while Pavic/Mektic, on the other hand, acted wide awake from the start, as they did in the tie-break of the first set. And found five match balls when the score was 6:1. The two Australians were still able to thwart three, but then a return from Kyrgios ended up just wide. Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic won their group unbeaten, while the two Australians were eliminated. Second place in this group is taken by the world number ones Koolhof/Skupski.