BNP Paribas Open: Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić win men's doubles title
When Marcelo Arévalo first began playing at Indian Wells as a singles player in 2015, he and his dad got tickets to watch the action inside a suite that looked down on Stadium Court, inside the 16,100-seat stadium at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
They stayed late into the evening to watch the matches, marveling at the atmosphere inside one of the largest tennis stadiums in the world.
The Salvadoran lost in qualifying, but thought to himself how incredible it would be to one day play inside that stadium, on the iconic hardcourts, where many of the greats in tennis have played over the last 25 years.
He said that it was not just a goal, but a dream to one day play on that Stadium Court.
On Friday, Arévalo finally appeared on Stadium Court at the BNP Paribas Open, playing doubles with Mate Pavić of Croatia. Then, on Saturday, the pair won the men's doubles title, 6-3, 6-4, over Australian Jordan Thompson and American Sebastian Korda.
Arévalo called it a full-circle moment.
"In that moment, when I was here with my dad," Arévalo said, "it didn't even cross my mind to win the title on that court. So, it was kind of shocking."
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With the win Arévalo and Pavić will split $ 457,150. Thompson and Korda will split $ 242,020.
The win was a sort of redemption for Pavić, who lost in the mixed doubles final Friday, playing with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. He played in the men's doubles semifinals in the morning, and then later in the mixed doubles final.
"That was actually a good, fun event that they put on," Pavić said. "It was some good matches and I have to say that the final was also a good match. Stadium 3 was pretty much full. We lost it, but it was close."
Fans filled the lower bowl of the stadium, some waving the El Salvador flag in support. Arévalo said that he knows people who drove over from other parts of Southern California specifically for the match.
Korda and Thompson saved 3-of-4 break points in the first set, but the one break is all Arévalo and Pavić needed. The pair didn't face a single break point in the set.
In the second, Korda and Thompson had four break point opportunities, but couldn't convert any of them. Arévalo and Pavić had just two break point opportunities, and the one they converted was enough.
Arévalo and Pavić, who are tied as the top-ranked men's doubles players in the world, ran through the men's doubles draw this week without dropping a set. They won all five matches without facing a seeded team the entire way.
In doing so, Pavić joins just five other players who've completed the set of Masters 1000 finals. Only Bob and Mike Bryan, Max Mirnyi, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna had done it previously.
Korda and Thompson are now 9-2 in three tournaments as a doubles team. Last year, they won the Masters 1000 title in Madrid.
If they weren't before, Arévalo and Pavić might be considered one of the best doubles teams in recent memory. They reached a Masters 1000 in Rome last year, and the ATP Finals. While they lost in those finals, they won four titles together, including Hong Kong, Geneva, a Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and a Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
Now, they've also won Indian Wells together.
Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić win men's doubles title at Indian Wells
