In the battle of the top two teams in the world, Henri Kontinen and John Peers defeated Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo to successfully defend their Nitto ATP World Tour Finals title.
Heading into the final, Kontinen and Peers lead the head to head 4-1 and had won both of their previous meetings on hard courts. This was evident as the defending champions put the pressure on their opponents serve straight away.
The early pressure told as the Brazilian-Polish pair handed the early break to the second seeds and Australian Open champions. Kontinen and Peers also looked impressive on serve as they dominated the exchanges with the Wimbledon champions struggling with returns.
Despite saving two break points, Kubot and Melo eventually surrendering to the defending champions as they grabbed the first set 6-4.
The Finnish-Australian pairing went from strength to strength as a Kubot double fault gave them an early head start in the second set. Their serve was under no pressure as John Peers increased his confidence throughout the contest.
A brutal one handed backhand from Henri Kontinen, that even Roger Federer would of been proud of, handed a double break as they increased their lead to 4-1.
Kontinen eventually served it out to seal their second successive title in a comprehensive victory. The win means that Kontinen and Peers are the first duo to defend the ATP World Tour Finals title since the Bryan Brothers in 2004.
The duo end the season on a very good note and after the match Kontinen said ‘without a doubt’ that they will be partnering up in 2018.
Here are the duo collecting their trophy:
Henri Kontinen🇫🇮 🏆 John Peers🇦🇺🏆(🎥@TennisTV ) pic.twitter.com/IKdsZCMVOP
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) November 19, 2017
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