Marcelo Melo tries to reach his 68th doubles final on the ATP Tour
Photo: Archive
Newport (USA) – Newport’s top ATP 250 seeds Brazilian Marcelo Melo and South African Raven Klaasen won another in the traditional tournament played on the grass courts of the Tennis Hall of Fame and guaranteed a place in the semi-finals. Melo and Klaasen defeated the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and the Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi this Thursday by 6/4 and 6/2 in just 1h02 of the match.
Aged 38 and from Minas Gerais and currently 44th in the rankings, Marcelo Melo has 35 doubles titles on the ATP circuit and is aiming for the 68th final of his career. In Newport, he only played in the 2011 edition and was a semi-finalist. The next opponents will be North Americans Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson, who won a home game against 3 seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow by 4/6, 7/6 (7-4) and 12-10.
The opening set had only one break, conquered by Melo and Klaasen at the start of the match. They had already created four break points in the opener and managed to break two games later. Topping the scoreboard, the main favorites made good service plays but had to escape a chance of a breakout when they served in the set.
The second part was under constant pressure from Melo and Klaasen on the opposing serve. There were eight break points created in three different games and it gave two more breaks for the Brazilian and the South African, which turned out well for another victory.
“Pop culture fan. Coffee expert. Bacon nerd. Infuriatingly humble communicator. Friendly gamer.”
