Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski claimed the eighth and final doubles berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. They will be making their third year-end championship appearance (2-5 record) in the past four years.
2009 Review
The Polish duo collected two ATP World Tour titles for the third straight year and also extended their title streak to seven consecutive seasons.
After a 12-12 start, they captured their first grass court title at Eastbourne (d. Parrott-Polasek) in mid-June. In August they advanced to final in Washington (l. to Damm-Lindstedt).
Their best month came in October when they captured their first Asian title in Kuala Lumpur (d. Kunitsyn-Levinsky) and two weeks later beat the Bryans in QF en route to final at ATP Shanghai Masters 1000 (l. to Benneteau-Tsonga).
One month later at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris, they ousted Bryans again in QF en route to SF (l. to Granollers-Robredo), which enabled them to pass No. 8 Moodie-Norman and qualify for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
They have a 10-14 career record together in ATP World Tour finals.
Finals History
Fyrstenberg and Matkowski first qualified for the prestigious season climax in 2006, losing all three round-robin matches. Last year, the duo reached the semi-finals (l. to Bryan-Bryan) after progressing through the group stage with a 2-1 record.
Began playing tennis at age eight...Father, Zbigniew... Mother, Jolanta...Has one younger sister Dominika (18)... Speaks Polish and English...Went to college at UCLA from 2001-03 before turning pro...Enjoys going to movies and reading books, especially by Grisham, Clancy and Brown...His idol growing up was Pete Sampras and says hard courts are his favorite surface...Considers his serve and forehand as best part of his game...Has a 16-5 career record in Davis Cup (12-4 in doubles) in 16 ties.
2000 -- Captured doubles title at Poland #3 Futures (w/Kwinta)...
2001 -- In doubles, won first Challenger title at Sopot (w/Dabrowski) and won two Futures titles (w/Fyrstenberg)...
2002 -- In doubles, won back-to-back Challenger titles at Graz and Manerbio (w/Fyrstenberg). Also captured Poland Futures #7 title (w/Golab). Won his first ATP match in Sopot (w/Fyrstenberg).
2003 -- In doubles, captured first ATP title in homeland in Sopot (w/Fyrstenberg), compiled a 4-2 mark in Challenger finals (w/Fyrstenberg)...Finished in Top 100 for first time at No. 97.
2004 -- Played first full season on ATP level, compiling a 23-19 record (all w/Fyrstenberg) and broke into Top 50 for first time before finishing No. 52. Opened year with SF in Chennai and followed with title in Heilbronn Challenger. In early season Latin American clay court circuit, advanced to SF in Vina del Mar and Acapulco with second career ATP title in between in Costa do Sauipe. Also SF in Bastad, Bucharest and Palermo (all w/Fyrstenberg).
2005 -- The Polish native compiled a 19-19 match record in doubles. Teamed most of year with countryman Fyrstenberg and they put together a 15-15 mark, highlighted by ATP title in their homeland in Sopot (d. Arnold-Prieto). Also a runner-up in Palermo (l. to M. Garcia-Hood) and SF in two other ATP tournaments. In Challenger play, won title at Szczecin (w/Fyrstenberg). Finished at No. 52 for second straight year.
2006 -- Picked up one ATP title (w/countryman Fyrstenberg) and advanced to five finals. The pair qualified for their first Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, going 0-3 in round robin action. Won ATP title in Bucharest beginning a stretch where the pair advanced to two consecutive finals and one SF. Duo played well during spring clay season, reaching finals in Costa do Saufpe and Barcelona. Also reached New Haven final and advanced to US Open QF, equaling best showing there. Later in year advanced to Palermo and Basel finals. Reached Australian Open SF for best-ever Grand Slam outing. Finished as No. 8 team in ATP Doubles Race and No. 17 individually.
2007 -- Compiled a 38-23 record and went 2-3 in finals (w/Fyrstenberg), winning titles in Sopot and Vienna while reaching finals in New Haven, Metz and AMS Madrid. Also SF in four other tournaments.
2008 -- The Pole compiled another outstanding season, winning two ATP doubles titles, including his first AMS shield (w/countryman Fyrstenberg) while making their second appearance at Tennis Masters Cup (l. to Bryans in SF)...The Polish duo have won at least one ATP title for six straight seasons...Began year with SF at Sydney and 3rd RD at Australian Open...Enjoyed solid results on clay, reaching Barcelona final in April (l. to Bryans) and winning Warsaw title in June (d Davydenko-Schukin)...It marked their fourth ATP title on home soil...Also finalists in Bucharest, falling 22-20 in a Match Tie-Break to Devilder-Mathieu...Reached final in next appearance on indoor hard courts at Metz (l. to Clement-Llodra)...Followed by clinching team's first AMS title at Madrid (d. Bhupathi- Knowles)...Finished regular season with SF effort at AMS Paris...Ended No. 7 in ATP Doubles Race and tied for No. 15 individually.
2009
The Polish native teamed with countryman Mariusz Fyrstenberg to qualify for their third year-end championship in the past four years...They collected two ATP World Tour titles for the third straight year and also extended their title streak to seven consecutive seasons...After a 12-12 start, they captured their first grass court title at Eastbourne (d. Parrott-Polasek) in mid-June...In August they advanced to final in Washington (l. to Damm-Lindstedt)...Their best month came in October when they captured their first Asian title in Kuala Lumpur (d. Kunitsyn-Levinsky) and two weeks later beat the Bryans in QF en route to final at ATP Shanghai Masters 1000 (l. to Benneteau-Tsonga)...One month later at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris, they ousted Bryans again in QF en route to SF (l. to Granollers-Robredo), which enabled them to pass No. 8 Moodie-Norman and qualify for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London...They have a 10-14 career record together in ATP World Tour finals.