Simone Bolelli and Turin native Andrea Vavassori beat Roland Garros and US Open champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in 1 hour and 35 minutes to secure their spot in the semifinals at the Nitto ATP Finals at the Inalpi Arena in Turin one year after failing to advance from the round robin group in 2024. The all-Italian team are now 2-0 in the Peter Fleming Group two days after beating this year’s Wimbledon champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool on Sunday.
Bolelli and Vavassori earned two break points in the fourth game of the opening set, but Granollers saved them to hold serve on the deciding point. Vavassori saved three break points at 4-4 before hitting a backhand return winner to take a 4-2 lead with a mini-break in the tie-break. The Italian team sealed the tie-break 7-4 with a second mini-break.
Bolelli and Vavassori started the second set with an early break in the first game of the second set and held serve at 30 to open up a 2-0 lead. The Italian players held on their serve and earned a match point on Zeballos’s serve but they did not convert it. Vavassori sealed the win on the first match point with a smash in the 10th game.
Bolelli and Vavassori won four ATP Tour titles in Adelaide, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Washington and have a 37-20 win-loss record.
