Tournament debutants Henri Kontinen and John Peers have completed their London whitewash by defeating seventh seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 2-6, 6-1, 10-8, to win the ATP Finals doubles title.
The final marked new territory for both players, who were all playing in their maiden year-end final. Throughout this week, the Australian/Finnish pair has been undefeated with wins over the first, third and fourth seeds on route to the final.
Sunday’s showdown was a rematch of their encounter earlier in the week when Kontinen and Peers downed Klassen and Ram in straight sets. This time around, the proceedings at the O2 Arena was more testing with both pairings encountering patchy play. Dropping the opening set in just 31 minutes, the fifth seeds valiantly battled back to level before edging out their opponents in the decisive tiebreaker.
“I think were two very lucky guys to call this our job and to play here (London).” Said Kontinen. “To make it here with John was our number one goal at the start of the year and it is going to be the same next year again.”
Kontinen’s and Peers’ win have caused heartbreak to their opponents, who were two points away from the biggest title of their career. Speaking during the opening ceremony, a bitterly disappointed Ram paid tribute to the winners.
“I don’t know what to say really. I mean I guess I just have to credit these guys. They have been the best team on the tour since the US Open and they definitely deserved to be in this position.” said Ram.
The new champions have closed their season with a ten-match winning streak. This year they have won four titles together in Brisbane, Munich, Hamburg and Paris. Kontinen will now rise to a doubles ranking high of seventh in the world and Peers is one place behind in eighth.
