Cermak-Mertinak Win Fourth Title

© Getty ImagesFrantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak are hoping to secure a place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak added further impetus to their campaign to qualify for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by clinching their fourth ATP World Tour title of the season at the BCR Open Romania.

The Czech-Slovakian duo defeated third seeds Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-2, 6-4 Saturday in the final of the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament in Bucharest.

The second seeds saved four of the five break points they faced, while capitalising on four of the eight opportunities they created in the 67-minute match. They have dropped just one set, against Cuevas-Granollers in the semi-finals, en route to the title.

Cermak and Mertinak joined forces at the beginning of the 2009 ATP World Tour season and quickly made an impact, reaching their first final together in February at the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar, where they finished runner-up to Pablo Cuevas and Brian Dabul. Since then they have not lost in an ATP World Tour final, capturing their first three titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco (d. Kubot-Marach), the MercedesCup in Stuttgart (d. Hanescu-Tecau) and defeating Brunstrom and Rojer to lift the ATP Studena Croatia Open trophy.

“I’m very satisfied,” said Cermak. “We did not start well at the beginning of the season, I had an injury all of December. But the last couple of months we have been playing very solid and I’m very happy for it.”

Their successful debut season has seen them rise to No. 8 in the 2009 ATP Doubles Team Rankings, with the top eight pairs qualifying for the elite eight-team field at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November.

The 32-year-old Cermak captured his 20th ATP World Tour title from his 33rd final, while Mertinak, 29, improved to a 10-2 mark in ATP World Tour finals. The right-handed Mertinak also claimed the Bucharest title in 2007 with Oliver Marach and said: “I like it here; it was great hospitality this year. I like it because the clay is slow here and the balls are also good. I’ve played 12 ATP World Tour finals and I’m very happy with this.”

Swedish Brunstrom and Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles, who blogged for Doubles Vision on Friday, failed to win their first ATP World Tour title. The duo finished runner-up in its first final at the 2008 Catella Swedish Open (l. to Bjorkman-Soderling) and has now lost out in a further four finals.

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra will be cheered on by their French compatriots at the Open de Moselle on Sunday, as the top-seeded pair look to capture their third successive title in Metz. Clement and Llodra won 70 per cent of service points to knock out Rainer Schuettler and Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-2 in 66 minutes.

The duo has played just three ATP World Tour tournaments this year, but lifted the Open 13 title at Marseille in February (d. Knowle-Ram). They will meet first-time ATP World Tour doubles finalists, Brits Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski, who beat Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the AEGON Championships second round in June.