09.06.2017 15:48:20 | Jebavý and his Chilean teammate lost to the Argentine pair Duran/Molteni in a dramatic battle for the doubles title. What was the finalists’ journey to the final? Jebavý and Chilean Podlipnik-Castillo beat Czechs Papík/Rikl in the first round, then again the Czech pair Kolář/Vocel in the second round and, in the semi-finals, the first seeded pair Paes/Marrero. Duran/Molteni defeated the Swiss-American pair Margaroli/Sandgren in the first round, Behar (URU)/Bury (BLR) in the second round, and Brazilian-Argentine pair Souza/Andreozzi in the semis.
Jebavý and Podlipnik-Castillo started very well in the first set. They were leading 3:0, but then the Argentine pair Duran/Molteni rose up. They were leading 4:3, had an advantage to 5:3, but Jebavý/Podlipnik-Castillo levelled up to 4:4 and then to 5:5. The first set was decided in a tiebreak in which Jebavý and Podlipnik-Caastillo were leading 3:1, then 3:6, 5:6, and eventually lost 5:7. In the second set, Jebavý/Podlipnikem-Castillo lost their service at 2:1, they were leading 3:1, 4:1, but then they lost the break advantage. It was the same in tiebreak… It is a pity, Jebavý/Podlipnik-Castillo had a great chance.
“If somebody told me before the tournament that I would advance to the final, I would have been happy about it. However, I injured my knee in the semis yesterday. I was even thinking about retiring. I took some pills, it got a bit better, but I could not serve well and that was probably the reason why we lost. It was still playable, we were leading 3:0 in the first set and had two breakpoints. We should not have lost it. We won the second set and were riding a success wave. We were leading 3:0 in the supertiebreak, but then it was 3:6 again. It should not have happened, we were losing important points,” said Roman Jebavý.
Has he been satisfied with his appearance in doubles this year? “I’ve been very satisfied. Over the last two months, I and Jiří Veselý won the ATP in Istanbul thanks to which we got to French Open where we won two rounds which was a success. Here in Prostějov, we advanced to the final. However, it unfortunately got a bit bitter for us because we had a chance to win the entire tournament. Let alone, we beat the first seeded pair Peas/Marrero, which also was a great success. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out today.“ What about Jebavých chances in the Daviscup team? “I’ve definitely thought about it. There may be higher chances now. It also depends on other players in the team, their health conditions and so on. I would really appreciate it if I got to the team. I think I’ve got much closer now.“
