Australian Open: Dramatic tie-break defeat

What a drama! In the decisive third set of the semi-final, Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz lost 4:6, 6:3, 6:7 in a tie-break. With their defeat in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, the doubles specialists will now have to wait for their first joint Grand Slam victory. The German Davis Cup duo only lost in the final of the US Open in September. Shortly afterwards, however, they won the ATP Finals and became world champions.

In the first set, an early break was enough for their opponents Heliövaara and Patten to win the set 4:6. In the second set, however, Krawietz and Pütz kept their nerve, showed a more consistent service game and marched through to 6:3.The decisive third set developed into a real tennis thriller. The Germans were unable to convert four break chances on their opponents' serve and so it remained neck and neck. Krawitz and Pütz also fought resolutely for every ball in the tie-break, but they lacked that decisive bit of luck and lost 6:7 (7:10).