Top-seeded tandem roll to title

By Harvey Fialkov

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — If the doubles final was a test, the top-seeded duo of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic wouldn’t have needed an eraser, as they rolled to a near flawless 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over six-seeded Brits Julian Glass and Lloyd Glasspool Saturday afternoon for their 10^th match win in a row and first Miami Open Masters title presented by Itaú together.

Pavic won Miami in 2021 with fellow Croatian Nikola Mektic.

They become the eighth team to win the Sunshine Double (Doubles), despite sitting through three rain delays in the second set, including a 77-minute stoppage when leading 3-2 in the second set.

The delay actually helped Pavic and Arevalo as they returned to a 30-30 score with Glasspool serving and immediately broke for just the second time of the match. Astonishingly, the champions never faced a break point and won 49 of 56 of their serves (88 percent) and 14 of 15 of their second serves.

“The whole match was extremely tight before the rain delay and after me and Mate were extremely connected to each other and we hit crazy returns of serves and were able to close it out pretty quick,’’ Arevalo said.

After Arevalo’s service winner on his first match point, the Plantation resident clasped his hands over his head in joy, while Pavic, who won his tour-leading 41^st title, pumped his fists a-la Rafael Nadal.

“I believe we played an unbelievable match. It was like a dream final,’’ said Arevalo, who grew up in nearby Broward County. “We barely did any mistakes. That’s one of the reasons we were able to execute in the important moments. I’m extremely happy to win here in Miami, because this is actually the first tournament I came as a fan with my dad when it was called The Lipton in the ‘90s. I remember playing on the little courts they built for the fans and trading ATP player cards.”

Pavic, 31, a shoe-in for the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., after the 6-foot-3, left-handed Croatian hangs up his racket, earned his eighth Masters 1000 championship. The pair won their sixth title together.

“That’s the key to success, get yourself a good partner,’’ laughed Arevalo.

They’ve become the seventh duo to pull off the difficult double, with the most recent being American John Isner and Pole Hubert Hurkacz in 2022. For 34-year-old Arevalo, arguably El Salvador’s greatest tennis player, this was his 15^th title and fifth Masters title.

“It’s pretty hard because the level is hard and tough [to win the Sunshine Double] in doubles because it could change quickly in a match with our format of no-ad scoring and super-tiebreaker for the match” Arevalo said. It’s tough to win many matches in a row but we are happy that we did it and keep dreaming to keep winning more and more.”

Pavic owns the Golden Slam, having won all four majors with four different partners, including Arevalo at Roland Garros last year.  Arevolo won his 15^th doubles title and fifth Masters 1000 title.

The first was all about the serve, as Pavic and Arevalo never faced a break point and won all 10 of their second serves as well as 90 percent of their first serves. They threatened to break Glasspool at 5-5, love-40, however the Brit served his way out of trouble to eventually force a tiebreaker.

Pavic dominated the breaker with lefty can-opener service winners, putaways at net and even threw in back-to-back overheads to go up 6-1 before wrapping up the first set.

Arevalo has won two majors, including the French Open last year with Pavic, and his first French Open title in 2022 with partner Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands.

Cash, 28, and Glasspool, 31, have won three titles together, including Doha and Brisbane this year. Neither have won a Masters 1000 or major as of yet.