A reunion is one of the special features of the ATP final tournament. Normally you can only meet once at a tennis tournament, but in Turin it’s different because the format with a group phase ensures that. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz therefore faced the best tennis doubles in the world for the second time in a week on Sunday – and simply continued where they left off in the first encounter: with 7:6 (5) and 7: 6 (6) they won the biggest title of their career together at the ATP Finals at the end of the year.
It had been apparent all week that the Germans had traveled to Turin in surprisingly good form – which was not necessarily to be expected. Pütz was still struggling with the residual effects of a torn muscle fiber in his calf. “Three weeks ago I couldn’t even walk properly,” he said after the final. However, Krawietz/Pütz started the tournament spectacularly well with a two-set win against number one seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic. against the duo that has been keeping them busy all year long. Three of the four Grand Slams featured duels with Arevalo from El Salvador and Pavic from Croatia, with mixed results. This time it was supposed to be the start of something more.
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Even though the seeding list only had them number eight, Krawietz and Pütz quickly earned status as secret favorites in Turin. The Italian doubles Vavassori/Bolelli, for example, largely had no chance in two sets; the two Germans only had to admit defeat in the third match of the group phase against Ebden/Bopanna, although they had already qualified for the semi-finals anyway. In that they narrowly defeated the Australian duo Thompson/Purcell and cleared the way for another duel with the best in the world. It was the first time that two Germans found their way to the final at the end of the year.
In a high-class match on Sunday, it was once again the strength of the serve that stood out on both sides. Krawietz/Pütz won the first set with a difference of one point, in the second set none of the four players showed any weaknesses – again the tiebreak had to decide, in which both made fewer mistakes under pressure and once again made a decisive point more. “It is our third title, now here after two in Germany. I think this is one of the best events on the tour,” said Krawietz, who had already won two Grand Slam titles at the Frenh Open with Andreas Mies. He announced “beer and wine” for the evening – and then set the tone for the coming days: “One more week and then it’s off-season.”
The ATP finals were not the end of the season for the doubles duo: Krawietz and Pütz are now traveling for Germany to the Davis Cup in Malaga, where the Canadian team is ready to duel on Wednesday. Alexander Zverev will be missing there as the best German singles player, which makes the doubles team called Krapütz, which will leave Turin in great shape, all the more important.