Melichar-Schuurs clinch doubles title

No. 2 seeds Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs won the doubles title at the Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Friday.

Melichar and Schuurs defeated the unseeded pair of Monica Niculescu and Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 2-6, (10-8) in the final. The match went down to the wire before Melichar and Schuurs eked out the match tiebreak following an hour-and-a-quarter of play.It was the second title for the American-Dutch duo, after they paired to win on the clay courts of Strasbourg last autumn. It is Melichar’s ninth WTA doubles title overall, while Schuurs is now up to 13 WTA doubles titles in her career.Melichar and Schuurs were not broken in the opening frame as they swept to a one-set lead, but Niculescu and Ostapenko powered through the final four games of the second set to level the affair and set up the decisive match tiebreak.There, Melichar and Schuurs swept to quadruple championship point at 9-5, but two winners and an unreturned Ostapenko serve let the unseeded pair fend off the first three. At last, the No.2 seeds converted their fourth chance after a netted service return by Ostapenko.Melichar and Schuurs defeated Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Andreja Klepac 5-7, 6-2, 5-10 in their semi-final.