Inglot/Skugor Earn Maiden Team Title In Budapest
Neither team competing in the Gazprom Hungarian Open final on Sunday had played together prior to this week. But one of the pairings knew they’d be leaving Hungary with an ATP World Tour title.
That team was Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor, capturing the Budapest trophy with a victory against Matwe Middelkoop and Andres Molteni 6-7(8), 6-1, 10-8 in one hour, 34 minutes.
"I want to thank everyone who came out and supported us and really showed good support for the doubles, so thank you," Inglot said.
It is the first ATP World Tour triumph for the Croatian, Skugor, who had lost his previous six tour-level matches with three different partners prior to arriving in Hungary. His partner, Inglot, claims his eighth ATP World Tour doubles title. The 32-year-old has now claimed glory at least once in seven consecutive years.
It certainly was not easy for the British-Croatian duo. They lost seven of their service points in the opening-set tie-break to fall behind. And even after breaking twice to easily win the second set, Inglot and Skugor were under plenty of pressure in the Match Tie-break.
Both teams lost only one point on serve through 8/8, when Skugor put a return back in play to the server, Middelkoop, with the Dutchman firing a forehand wide. Then, on their first match point, Inglot hit a second serve that Middelkoop tried to pull down the line with a rocketed forehand, missing wide, giving Inglot/Skugor their maiden team title.
Inglot and Skugor earn 250 ATP Doubles Rankings points along with a share of the €27,170 prize, while Middelkoop and Molteni capture 150 points and a split of €14,280.
Did You Know?
Inglot and Skugor defeated an in-form team, even if Middelkoop and Molteni had not previously played together. Middelkoop won titles earlier this year in Pune and Sofia (w/ Haase), while Molteni was victorious in Buenos Aires (w/ Zeballos).