HEILBRONN, May 19, 2018
Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies continue their good run of form and reach the doubles final of the €85,000 NECKARCUP. The German duo clinched the title in Rome last Saturday against the all-Belgian combination of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen and repeated victory one week later in a highly entertaining semi-finals encounter at Heilbronn.
Krawietz/Mies broke their opponents serve three times to prevail 6-1, 7-6 in one hour and 13 minutes. “We were totally focused on our service games and tried to capitalize on our chances during the return games, which was key today,” Mies explaiend.
The pair enjoyed to play in front of their families and friends.
“This is always special and is a lot of fun,” said Krawietz, who captured seven doubles titles this season. “We try to play together as often as possible. The goal is to compete at ATP-level, which means to we need to be ranked inside the top 80 or 90.”
Junaid/Pel advance
Earlier in the day, Rameez Junaid of Australia and Dutchman David Pel edged out Denys Molchanov from Ukraine and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia, the last seeded team in the doubles draw. Junaid/Pel capitalized on all four of their break Point chances to prevail in 62 minutes.
Rameez Junaid and David Pel (photo: Florian Heer)
“The most important thing is that I have so much fun here in Heilbronn. The people are so nice and supportive. That gives us good energy and we want to play and fight,” Junaid told Tennis TourTalk after their win.
“Of course we play good tennis. We beat a strong team, both players ranked inside the top 200. It is a challenge for us but we enjoy it a lot here.”
The duo teamed up a couple of weeks ago, now making it into their first final. “We had a lot of ups and downs in the beginning. We were practicing pretty good but struggled during the matches,” Pel explained. “But we had the patience and sticked together as a team and it pays off.”
What are their expectations for Sunday’s title match? “Every match is tough but we want to win,” Junaid commented. “We want to put on a good show and we will fight for every point. We are happy to be in the final, getting another chance to get better.”
