Unseeded Andre Goransson and Alex Michelsen defeated top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 7-6(2), 2-6, 10-7 on Friday to reach the final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
The first duo scored 0 out of 7 on break points in the one-hour, 41-minute match, including 0 out of 5 in the first set. Despite Goransson being broken in the fourth and eighth games of the second set, they regrouped in the Match Tie-break.
Goransson/Michelsen led 3-0 in the decisive tie-break and after Arevalo/Pavic made it 3-3, both teams held serve until Arevalo made a double fault at 7-8. Arevalo then hit a forehand wide on match point, putting the Swede and the American into the final.
“It was three or four days before I went to the Laver Cup, he texted me and I thought why not,” Michelsen said of how they worked together. “Now we are in the final.”
Goransson is the first Swede to reach the doubles final in tournament history (since 2009) and he will try to become the first Swede to win an ATP Masters 1000 doubles title since Robert Lindstedt in 2012 in Cincinnati (with Horia Tecau). Goransson will appear in his first ATP Masters 1000 final and eighth career final (3-4). He won his last title in April at the 500-level tournament in Munich, with Sem Verbeek. His other titles were Nieuwpoort last year (also with Verbeek) and Pune in 2020 (with Christopher Rungkat).
“It feels great and it’s my first Masters 1000 final ever, so I’m obviously very excited,” Goransson said. “It was quite nerve-wracking towards the end, but it’s great to come through with a win.”
Michelsen is the first American to reach the Shanghai doubles final since 2016, when John Isner and Jack Sock won the title. This is the 21-year-old California native’s (0-2) third ATP Tour final, after losing in Stuttgart in June (with Rajeev Ram) and last year at the Cincinnati ATP Masters 1000 (with Mackenzie McDonald).
“This feels really good,” Michelsen said. “That’s the team I lost to last year in the finals in Cincinnati, so super good to get the win over those guys, they’re very good, and we’re excited about the challenge in the finals.”
Goransson and Michelsen will face No. 3 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz or alternates Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard. The Germans will play against the Argentinian/French duo in the semi-finals on Saturday.
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