Victorious In Antwerp! Mies/Krawietz Capture Third Title

Entering this year’s New York Open, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies had mostly competed on the ATP Challenger Tour, only playing three tour-level events together before that week. But the Germans won that title and they have not looked back since.

Top seeds Krawietz and Mies captured their third title of the season on Sunday in Antwerp, defeating second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 7-6(1), 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes to triumph at the European Open.

“We enjoyed it a lot all week. The tournament was really nice, very well organised... We had a lot of fun this week,” Mies said. “We had a good time.”

The Germans, who won Roland Garros this year, surge into third place in the ATP Doubles Race To London thanks to their Antwerp victory. Krawietz and Mies are trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, and they saved the only break point they faced against Ram and Salisbury in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

“The Belgians were really loud, actually. We had a great atmosphere. It really helps for the doubles when you have Stan Wawrinka against Andy Murray in the final coming up after our match,” Mies said. “It was pretty packed and we really enjoyed the atmosphere. It was unbelievable, and we played one of our best matches this year.”

Krawietz and Mies earn 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points each and a share of €35,960 for their efforts. They did not drop a set at this ATP 250 event.

“Lovely tournament. A lot of people came for the doubles final, also for the rounds before. The crowd was huge yesterday,” Krawietz said. “[We] enjoyed the game and enjoyed the tournament.”

Ram and Salisbury, who are also in Nitto ATP Finals contention, could have surpassed Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau for sixth place in the Race if they defeated the Germans. Instead, the American-British pair add 150 points to their tallies and split €18,430.