Lindstedt/Tecau End Partnership On A Positive Note In London

© Getty ImagesRobert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau, who played together for three seasons, ended their doubles partnership on Friday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Fourth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau ended their doubles partnership on a high Friday when they defeated eighth seeds Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen 6-3, 7-5 in Group B at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. It was a repeat of this year’s Wimbledon final.

The Swedish-Romanian team finish the year with a 44-21 match record, including four titles from seven finals. They were appearing at the season-ending championships for the second time.

“The off-court ones we keep to ourselves,” said Lindstedt to Tecau. “Obviously the three Wimbledon finals were great moments, but also they are low points as well. We have Cincy [the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati]. We are happy to have won a big one.

“Three years is a long time. It has been a long journey. We came together when we were further down in the [ATP Doubles] Rankings and we played some [ATP World Tour] 250s. I don’t only have anger on court.”

Buy Tickets  | Discuss On Facebook | TV Schedule

View Group Standings

Marray recovered from 15/40 in the opening game to frustrate Lindstedt and Tecau, who went onto break Marray for a 3-2 lead. Sheffield resident Marray was broken again in the ninth game, this time on a sudden death point, to conclude the 31-minute set.

Marray and Nielsen clawed their way back into the encounter by breaking Lindstedt to 15 in the third game of the second set. Marray survived a sudden death deuce for a 3-1 lead. But Lindstedt and Tecau won three straight games. As the set moved closer to a tie-break, Marray was broken for a third time on a sudden death deuce to conclude the 78-minute match. 

“It was very important to get a win,” said Tecau. “We came up a bit short in our last two matches. We have known for a while it would be our last match and after three years together we wanted to end on good terms with a good tournament. In the last two losses, we played well but didn’t finish it off. We are really happy to have come out with a win today.

“We always enjoy playing here in front of such a big crowd, no matter what the result is. We know we have tough matches and it feels good right now to finish with a win.”

Marray and Nielsen finish Group B with a 2-1 record, having already qualified for semi-finals. They saved two match points in their win over fifth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and one match point versus second seeds and defending champions Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor.