Nikola Mektic, Mate Pavic clinch Stuttgart Open men's doubles crown

Stuttgart [Germany], June 18 : The pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic claimed their fifth tour-level grass-court title as a team on Sunday as they defeated Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in men's doubles at the Stuttgart Open.

The second seeds produced a solid performance at the ATP 250 event to defeat the Germans 7-6(2), 6-3.

The Croatians duo of Mektic and Pavic have now captured 16 tour-level trophies as a team and two this season, also claiming the crown in Auckland in January. The 29-year-old Pavic also came out victorious in Stuttgart in 2022 with Hubert Hurkacz, while it is Mektic's first success at the tournament.

Home favourites Krawietz and Puetz were seeking their first title of the season together. Earlier this season, they also reached the final on home soil in Munich.

"It feels really good. We've been having a really rough year compared to the previous two so this feels really good. Really something that we needed, I think," Mektic was quoted as saying by ATP.com

"I love the tournament, it's nice and they do a great job. In general, I love to play on grass and we just keep lifting the titles on grass. It must be something that we like about it, and we're happy to win the tournament, win some matches and get back on track," said Pavic.