Tennis: Kiwi Artem Sitak and partner Wesley Koolhof into New York Open final

New Zealand's Artem Sitak. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand's Artem Sitak and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof have surged into the doubles final at the ATP 250 tournament, the New York Open.

The pair have beaten Moldovan Radu Albot and Georgia's Nicoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-3 in their semi-final.

"The key was to stay really focused and do the basics well because they are really good singles players and hit well from the back of the court." Sitak said.

Sitak and Koolhof made a sluggish start as their opponents broke in the third game to take early control of the first set.

But the Dutch-Kiwi combination had several opportunities to break back and did so in the eigth game. They broke again in the 10th game to take the first set in 33 minutes.

Sitak and Koolhof served superbly in the second set and didn't face a single break point against their serve.

They broke in the eigth game and then served out the set and the match in an hour and two minutes.

"We attacked well and held serve well and protected our first volleys. Wes returned well in the end and basically broke them by himself in the second set."

Sitak and Koolhof have only been playing together since after Wimbledon last year but are now into their third ATP final as a team.

They lost their previous two finals last year but will fancy their chances against the second seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Philip Oswald of Austria.

"They are a very good team and made the final in Auckland at the start of the season. But we beat them 10-7 in the third in a very tough match in Metz last year." Sitak said.

Victory in the final will lift Sitak back into the top 50 in the rankings and it would be the 32-year-old's fourth ATP doubles title.

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