Mektic/Pavic Edge Into Dubai Semi-finals; Cabal/Farah Save 1 M.P.

Second-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic improved to 19-2 on the season with a 6-7(3), 7-6(7), 10-6 victory over Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin on Thursday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

So far this season, Mektic and Pavic have lifted ATP Tour trophies at the Antalya Open (d. Vesely/Weissborn), the Murray River Open in Melbourne (d. Brkic/Qureshi) and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (d. Krawietz/Tecau). They also finished runners-up at the Australian Open (l. to Dodig/Polasek).

Top-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah saved one match point to book their places in the semi-finals.

Cabal and Farah saved one match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break to beat Italian qualifiers Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-7(7), 11-9. The Colombians recovered from 1-4 down in the second set, but could not convert a match point at 6-5 in the second-set tie-break.

Skupski Brothers Save M.P., Oust Second Seeds In Acapulco
Last year, Neal Skupski and Jamie Murray were partners, and they served as alternates at the Nitto ATP Finals. On Thursday, they were on opposite sides of the court. Skupski and his older brother, Ken Skupski, beat second seeds and 2016 year-end No. 1 duo Murray and Bruno Soares 6-3, 3-6, 12-10.

The unseeded pair let slip a 9/6 lead in the Match Tie-break, and had to save a match point at 9/10, but they held their nerve under pressure to advance to the semi-finals. The Brits will next play fourth seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who battled past wild cards Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez 4-6, 6-3, 10-7.

On the other half of the draw, top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos squeaked past Aussie qualifiers Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 5-7, 6-2, 10-8. They will challenge third seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut for a spot in the final. The Frenchmen ousted Laslo Djere and Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-1.