Nikola Mektic Becomes First Croatian to Win ATP Finals

November 23, 2020 – Nikola Mektic becomes the first Croatian to win ATP Finals, which were completed in London on Sunday evening. Mektic won in the doubles final with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.

Gol.hr reports that Croatian doubles star Mektic and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof won the ATP World Finals title after defeating Austrian Juergen Melzer and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6:2, 3:6, 10:5 in the final match of the season on Sunday.

“I can’t express how I feel. I am really overjoyed, this is a dream come true,” said Mektic, who was delighted to win the ATP Finals in London alongside partner Wesley Koolhof.

“It has already been a great success for us to qualify for this event. We played well throughout the tournament, especially in the semi-final and final. I am overjoyed to have won,” the Dutchman added.

The Croatian-Dutch duo arrived in London for the tournament of the best eight doubles teams of the season as the fifth seed. On the way to the title, they lost only one match, the third in the group against Kubot and Melo when they had already secured a place in the semifinals.

Interestingly, it was their last match together because next year, they will take on the tennis world with other partners. Mektic will thus join his Croatia teammate Mate Pavic.

The Croatian tennis player won 254 thousand dollars with the title in London, which is about 1.6 million kuna. Mektic earned a total of $2.3 million in his career or about 15 million kuna.

“Wes, thank you very much. This is our first joint title. Not bad for the first,” Mektic said with a smile.

“It was a great tournament for us and an amazing way to end the year,” the Croatian tennis player added.

This was their third final this year and their first title since they were defeated in Marseille and at the US Open.

With this victory, Mektic becomes the first Croatian to win the title at the end of the ATP season. The closest to the title so far was Ivan Dodig, who lost to Bob and Mike Bryan six years ago with partner Marcelo Melo.

Before Koolhof, three other Dutchmen celebrated in the ATP Finals, Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis together in doubles (1993, 1998), and Jean-Julien Rojer (2015).

This was Mektic’s 16th final in his career, and his eighth title.

One thing is certain –  Mektic and Koolhof couldn’t have wished for a better end to their chapter together – by winning the London Crown.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

 

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