Austin Krajicek and Nikola Mektic save a match point and win the first ATP title as a couple in Delray Beach

@TennisUitgever

Nikola Metkic and Austin Krajicek have won ATP Tour titles, and a Grand Slam title each and an Olympic medal, but no ATP Tour title together as a team.

That changed in the final of the Delray Beach Open, where they won their first title as a couple in dramatic fashion, saving a match point to defeat the novice team of Benjamin Kittay and Ryan Seggerman 6-7(3), 6-3 (11-9).

After leading 5-1 and 7-3 in the decisive tiebreak of the first to 10 points, played in lieu of a third set in ATP Tour matches, Krajicek and Mektic faced match point, with Krajicek serving at 8-9. He saved the match point when Kittay went for broke by ripping a forehand return-of-serve from Krajicek’s first serve, but it landed well long. Krajicek then negotiated a forehand volley winner in a swirling wind to give him and Mektic their first match point at 10-9. The American-Croatian duo then took tournament victory on the next point when Kittay followed his first serve to the net but let go of Mektic’s forehand return, believing it would go out. However, the ball landed about two inches inside the line, just inside the doubles court.

Mektic and Krajicek have been playing together since the latter part of 2025, after the US Open, but have only amassed a 5–7 record as a tandem despite having a combined 46 career ATP doubles titles, including one Grand Slam each (Wimbledon for Mektic and the French Open for Krajicek), two Olympic medals (Gold for Mektic in 2020 and Silver for Krajicek in 2024) and number 1 in the world at one point each.

The victory was extra special for Krajicek, as it marked his first victory as a father.

Kittay and Seggerman played in their first career ATP Tour doubles final and Kittay played in his ATP Tour tournament. With a win, Kittay would have made some ATP Tour history by winning a title in his first ATP Tour appearance, a feat rarely achieved in singles and doubles but was last achieved in 2022 by Francisco Cabral and Nuno Borges in Estoril in their native Portugal.

“It’s one of the most emotional games and losses of my career, but it’s a real blessing to play in a game that means so much and leaves you so disappointed,” Seggerman said at the post-match awards ceremony.

Seggerman and Kittay were former teammates at the University of North Carolina, but Kittay transferred to the University of Michigan after Seggerman left UNC, where he played for the Wolverines before the 2025 season and reached the NCAA doubles finals. Kittay, while still taking online classes at Michigan, opted not to return to play college tennis for the Wolverines in 2026.