Eltingh-Haarhuis Doubles Team Closes Out Partnership With Title
Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis closed their successful run as the top doubles team Sunday by beating Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5, for the Phoenix ATP World Doubles championship.
Eltingh is retiring from tennis after the tournament. The 28-year-old became a father this year and wants to stay close to his family in the Netherlands.
He leaves as the No. 1 player on the ATP Tour individual doubles ranking, 873 points ahead of his partner. Knee problems forced him to retire from singles in 1997. “I feel good,” Eltingh said. “How can I make ‘goodbye’ better than it was this year.”
The Dutchmen needed less than two hours to win. It capped a 5-0 record at the tournament, where they won 11 of 12 sets and were broken only three times. It also extended their dominance over Knowles and Nestor to 9-1.
Eltingh and Haarhuis finished the year with a 46-4 record, the best percentage on the ATP Tour this season.
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