| October 13, 2024 | by Vivienne Christie |
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Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic have finished on the ultimate high at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. With a straight-sets victory over Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the doubles final on Sunday, the Dutch-Croatian pair were crowned champions of the 2024 event.
It is a fourth title this year for Koolhof and Mektic, who were also winners in Auckland, Rotterdam and at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament at Indian Wells.
"(It's) amazing," said the 35-year-old Mektic, after the pair sealed a 6-4 6-4 victory in an efficient one hour and 25 minutes. "We started so great, winning the first Masters of the year and we're so happy we picked it up now towards the end of the year. This week is really huge for us."
It follows an inspired campaign at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre, with Koolhof and Mektic pushed to match tiebreaks in three of their five matches. The unseeded pair saved two match points over No.5 seeds Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig in the second round.
"I think, on the court, off the court, we have the same idea of practising, how to approach the matches," Koolhof explained of their successful partnership. "We are very versatile players, we can play serve and volley, we can stay back, so there's always a plan B, or sometimes even plan C, when plan A and plan B aren't working.
"It worked for us. (There were) some narrow escapes, but (we're) very happy with the way we performed the whole week and especially today."
A fifth title as a team underlined their well-entrenched synergy. Both former world No.1s in doubles, Kookhof and Mektic claimed the 2020 ATP Finals together, before each combined with different partners for several years.
While the pair see several opportunities to add to their successful reunion in the last few weeks of the season, there's also a bittersweet ending in sight.
Koolhof has announced he will retire at the end of the year - and despite their sparkling success in Shanghai, the Dutchman is not rethinking those plans. "Four more (tournaments) to go," he explained with a smile. "Hopefully we can finish strong (and) keep this trend going."
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