© Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour
Nikola Mektic (right) and Mate Pavic (left) own a 22-3 record this year.
Ram/Salisbury claim Match Tie-break win
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic extended their perfect 2021 record of quarter-final appearances on Monday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
The second seeds defeated Taylor Fritz and John Isner 6-4, 6-4 to reach their seventh quarter-final in as many events this season. Mektic and Pavic saved all four break points they faced to clinch victory in 63 minutes.
The Croatian pair, which owns a 22-3 record this year, is chasing its fourth title of the season. Mektic and Pavic have already lifted trophies at the Antalya Open, the Murray River Open and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
Mektic and Pavic will meet Miomir Kecmanovic and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi for a place in the semi-finals. The unseeded team booked its place in the last eight on Sunday with a Match Tie-break win against 2016 champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury rallied from a set down to beat Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez 4-6, 6-4, 10-2. The seventh seeds will face American wild cards Sebastian Korda and Michael Mmoh in the quarter-finals.