FILIPINO Davis Cupper Treat Huey and Briton Dominic Inglot downed the French pairing of Nicolas Mahut and Michael Llodra, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), Saturday to again reach the doubles finals of the Swiss Indoors tennis championships in Basel.
The victory not only avenged Huey and Inglot’s French Open defeat to Mahut and Llodra this year, but also moved them on the threshold of their first title this season after an unprecedented quarterfinal finish in the US Open.
To snare the crown they will have to overcome Julian Knowle and Oliver Marach, the Austrian pair who stunned third-seeded Mariusz Fyrsternberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), in the other semifinal.
Huey and Inglot also reached the final last year but dropped a thrilling 7-5, 6-7 (4), 10-5 decision to Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic.
Incidentally, Huey and Inglot made the finals last year after beating Matkowski and Fyrsternberg in the semifinals.
En route to this year’s final, Huey and Inglot ousted second seeds Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands.
By reaching the final of the elite top 500 ATP for a fourth time this year, Huey cemented his status as the world No. 25 in doubles, while Inglot moved up to No. 28.
The pair also reached the final in Winston-Salem in North Carolina in August and Dusseldorf, Germany, in May. Partnering with Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz, Huey made it to the finals in Indian Wells last March. Marc Anthony Reyes