It is not known whether Severin Lüthi, the captain of the Swiss Davis Cup team, has already decided his doubles pair for next September’s play-off in Biel against Sweden. But Antoine Bellier and Johan Nikles will undoubtedly be in the thoughts of the Bernese coach.
The two Genevans achieved a great feat by eliminating the No. 3 seeded doubles pair formed by the Belarusian Max Mirnyi – six Grand Slam titles to his credit! – and the Austrian Philipp Oswald. Bellier/Nikles beat two players who won the title this year in New York and Houston 3-6 6-1 10-5. An undebatable win! Their precision in return and passing shots paid off in the end.
Although Sunday was magic for Antoine Bellier and Johan Nikles, it was rather sombre for Mischa Zverev. Last year’s runner-up was let down by his physical condition and did not manage to beat Bosnia’s Mirza Basic, who won this year’s title in Sofia. Despite a very good start, the German slowly faded to lose 5-7 6-3 6-4.
The first game of the main draw favoured Andreas Seppi. The Italian won his derby against Marc Cecchinato. Victorious 7-5 6-4, Seppi proved that the impossible is sometimes possible. He was down 5-1 30-0 on Cecchinato’s serve before winning the first set. Seppi admits “It’s true that such a scenario does not happen every day”.