ATP Finals: Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo end partnership with win

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Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Brazilian Marcelo Melo came out to The O2 Arena on Thursday afternoon determined to give their best and put an end to their partnership with a win. Kubot and Melo, seeded at No. 8, defeated fifth-seeded Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic 6-4 6-7 (2) 10-8 in their final Round Robin match at the Nitto ATP Finals but it wasn't enough for them to make the semifinal as they finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.

"Here of course is a very special tournament. Of course the [Nitto ATP] Finals, we do everything to be here. [It represents] achievement in life, achievement as a team, and I'm glad I could be here many times," Melo said, per the Nitto ATP Finals website.

"For us to be at a place that has the best eight singles players and best eight doubles players is very special. Today was another one. It was very special. Unfortunately we did not qualify [for the semi-finals], but we finished with a win."

London was a special place for Kubot and Melo

Kubot and Melo, who finished runners-up at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2017, captured the 2017 Wimbledon title after edging out Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in a historic final 5-7 7-5 7-6 (2) 3-6 13-11.

"We knew this was the last tournament. We were not sure to qualify [for the Nitto ATP Finals], so we did everything to qualify. This tournament didn't go the way we wanted to, but every day we stepped on the court we gave 100 per cent and today was a day we just wanted to finish and play until the end, finish with a win for our Kubot-Melo team," Kubot said.

"We are very happy and pleased that this is here in London, because we have one of the best memories here from winning Wimbledon." Meanwhile, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury defeated Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies 7-6 (5) 6-7 (4) 10-4 in the evening session to secure the last semifinal spot from the group.

Ram and Salisbury twice recovered from a break down in the first set, before they won the tie-break to win a tight opener. In the second-set tie-break, Ram and Salisbury led 4-3 before Krawietz and Mies won four points in a row to win the tie-break and force a decider.

However, losing the second set didn't affect Ram and Salisbury as they dominaged the match tie-break to beat Krawietz and Mies and earn a semifinal berth. Koolhof and Mektic finished the group at No. 1, while Ram and Salisbury made the semifinal as the second-placed team.