TURIN: Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin kept alive their Nitto ATP Finals hopes on Tuesday when they moved past Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 6-4 to improve to 1-1 in Green Group play.
The fourth seeds lost to Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in their opening match but responded well against Gonzalez and Molteni, firing eight aces and winning 94 per cent (30/32) of their first-serve points to triumph after 77 minutes.
Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin joined forces for the first time at the start of this season and enjoyed a standout year. The Mexican-French team won five tour-level trophies, including ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Miami and Paris.
Gonzalez, 40, is the first Mexican to qualify for the year-end event since Jorge Lozano in 1989, while Roger-Vasselin, 39, is appearing at the Nitto ATP Finals for the third time. Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin will play Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in their final round-robin match on Thursday.
Gonzalez and Molteni are now 0-2 in Green Group. The Argentines won five title this season, highlighted by their Masters 1000 triumph in Cincinnati.