Shanghai: Austrian pair Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner claimed the biggest title of their newly formed partnership on Sunday, defeating Francisco Cabral and JJ Tracy 6-3, 6-4 tp clinch the Shanghai Masters doubles crown.
The Austrian duo completed an unbeaten campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, winning all five matches without conceding a set. Playing inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Miedler and Oberleitner needed 66 minutes to secure the championship, breaking their opponents once in each set to seal the victory.
Moreover, Miedler and Oberleitner became the first all-Austrian pairing to win a title in the Masters 1000 series, which began in 1990. Their success in Shanghai came in only their second tournament together.
After reaching the quarter-finals in Tokyo, the pair carried that momentum into China and produced a title-winning performance that exceeded their initial expectations.
“I think if you never won a 1000 before, you cannot expect it to happen in the second week of our new partnership. The idea was to play well together. I mean, that it works after Tokyo and second tournament in Shanghai here is unbelievable. We knew that our game styles matched, that it could work. That it works like this is just simply unbelievable,” the 30-year-old Miedler was quoted by ATP.
The final also highlighted the effectiveness of the Austrians’ serving, as they gave Cabral and Tracy no opportunities to break. According to ATP Stats, Miedler and Oberleitner won 96 per cent of points behind their first serves and did not face a single break point in their first ATP Head2Head meeting with the Portuguese-American combination.
For Miedler, the Shanghai crown became the most significant of his 14 ATP Tour doubles titles. Oberleitner, meanwhile, added another milestone to his career, securing his second tour-level doubles trophy after winning the Winston-Salem title in August alongside Petr Nouza.
The victory was particularly meaningful for the 27-year-old Oberleitner, who expressed his delight at translating his ability into success on one of the sport’s biggest stages. With the partnership already delivering a Masters 1000 title in its second tournament, the Austrian said he was eager to build on the achievement.
“It’s surreal. The feeling is crazy. Like Lucas said, we knew we were going to play good together, and of course you never know, but you have a feeling. That it works in the second week obviously is great for us, and I’m excited what comes next. Obviously we try to keep it going and work on our game, improve, improve.
“It means a lot to me that I can show it on the big stage. I feel like I had it in me, but to show it and to have this title is unbelievable,” the 27-year-old Oberleitner reflected.
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