Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic are the Men’s Doubles Champions at the Australian Open after a 6-4 6-4 victory over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
The final was the first meeting between the two teams as the early stages was about feeling the opposition’s game styles. Marach was the first player to get a firm examination as he had to face four break points from the Colombian duo. Much like their previous matches, where they had to dig deep, they survived the test to level the set at 2-2.
Both teams would have their chances as Farah and Marach were the weaknesses in each team through some nervous shot making. However it was the Austrian-Croatian duo who pounced first to produce some stunning returns as they broke in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead. Pavic served the first set out in 47 minutes.
In this fiery pro Colombian crowd, Cabal and Farah were trying to give their home fans something to cheer about as they used different tactics to try and create break point opportunities. Unfortunately for the 11th seeds they played the big points at the wrong times and timing is everything in tennis. They played well when they were 40-0 down, which was no good when you are facing such a good net team like Marach/Pavic.
Eventually this would cost the Colombians as the 7th seeds sealed a crucial break in the ninth game and held to love to seal their first grand slam title as a team. It was an amazing victory for the Austrian-Croatian duo given their heart-breaking loss at Wimbledon to Kubot and Melo.
Marach and Pavic remain undefeated in 2018 having won Doha and Auckland heading into the Australian Open.
