Andreas Seppi and Simone Bolelli defeated Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in a marathon final to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships men's doubles title.
Italians Seppi and Bolelli stormed through the opening set but their Spanish opponents levelled the match to force a super tie break third, and after saving two match points, Seppi and Bolelli closed out the match 6-2, 3-6, 14-12.
Seppi and Bolelli looked to be in total control of the final when they broke twice in the opening set to reel off four straight games. However, the Lopez’s claimed the all-important break in the second to level the match.
Alongside partner Marc, Feliciano, who was contesting the doubles final less than 24 hours after losing his singles semi-final to Marcos Baghdatis, looked to be cruising to the title when they claimed a 5-1 lead in the third set.
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The Spaniards then had two chances to win the match at 9-8 and 10-9, but Seppi and Bolelli resisted until carving out two match point chances, closing it out at the second time of asking.
The victory is the ideal preparation for Seppi and Bolelli ahead of the Davis Cup next week.
“I’m very happy because always winning is good,” Bolelli said. “Dubai is a very big tournament, and we have Davis Cup next week, so for our confidence it’s very good to win a tournament like that.
“Thanks to Andreas for playing with me this week. I really enjoyed it.”
A week that began with a shock first round singles exit has ended with a doubles title for Seppi.
“It is very good week for me. Not in singles. Maybe I played one of the worst matches this year, but it’s good to win the title in doubles,” Seppi said. “It’s my first one. I lost six finals, so to win finally a doubles title is always something special, and especially with a good friend, with Simone.”
jturner@thenational.ae
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