Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic are fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.
Gille/Martin upset top seeds Granollers/Zeballos in Gijon
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic started their title quest at the UniCredit Firenze Open in Florence with victory on Wednesday when they moved past Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 6-4, 6-2.
In a strong serving display, the second seeds saved the one break point they faced and won 97 per cent (30/31) of points behind their first deliveries to advance after 63 minutes. The Croatians have now won their past five matches after they clinched their fifth tour-level title of the season last week in Astana. Mektic and Pavic will play Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori in the quarter-finals.
Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul also advanced at the ATP 250 event in Italy, edging fourth seeds Matthew Ebden and John Peers 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.
Gille/Martin Upset Top Seeds Granollers/Zeballos In Gijon
Sander Gille and Fabrice Martin upset top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6(5), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at Gijon Open.
In a hard-fought clash, the Belgian-French tandem raised their level at the end of both sets to earn victory after 90 minutes. Gille and Martin will next meet Sander Arends and David Pel after the Dutch team defeated Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez 6-1, 6-2.
Third seeds Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Martin Landaluce 6-3, 6-3, while Nikola Cacic and Hugo Nys saved three match points to edge Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo 6-2, 6-7(9), 16-14 in one hour and 55 minutes.