By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Nikola Metkic and Austin Krajicek have won ATP Tour titles, and each a Grand Slam title and Olympic medal but not an ATP Tour title together as team.
That changed in the final of the Delray Beach Open where they dramatically won their first title as a pair, saving a match point to beat the upstart team of Benjamin Kittay and Ryan Seggerman 6-7(3), 6-3 (11-9).
After leading by 5-1 and 7-3 in the decisive first-to-10-points match tiebreaker, played in lieu of a third set in ATP Tour matches, Krajicek and Mektic faced match point with Krajicek serving at 8-9. He saved the match point when Kittay went from broke by ripping a forehand return-of serve off Krajicek’s first serve but it landed well long. Krajicek then negotiated a forehand volley winner in a swirling wind to give he and Mektic their first match point at 10-9. The American-Croatian duo then clinched the tournament win on the next point when Kittay followed his first serve delivery to the net but let Mektic’s forehand return go, believing it was going out. However, the ball landed about two inches inside the line, just inside the doubles alley.
Mektic and Krajicek have been playing together since the latter part of 2025, after the U.S. Open, but have only achieved a 5-7 record as a tandem, despite combining for 46 career ATP doubles titles, including one Grand Slam each (Wimbledon for Mektic and the French Open for Krajicek), two Olympic medals (Gold for Mektic in 2020 and Silver for Krajicek in 2024) and each at one point ranking No. 1 in the world.
The win for Krajicek was also extra special as it marked his first win as a father.
Kittay and Seggerman were playing in their first career ATP Tour doubles final and Kittay was playing in his ATP Tour level tournament. With a win, Kittay would have made some ATP Tour history by winning a title in his first ATP Tour appearance, a feat rarely achieved in singles and doubles, but last done in 2022 by Francisco Cabral and Nuno Borges in Estoril in their native Portugal.
“It’s one of the most emotional matches and losses in my career but it’s a real blessing to play in a match that means so much that gets you to feel this disappointed,” said Seggerman in the post-match trophy ceremony.
Seggerman and Kittay were former teammates for the University of North Carolina, but Kittay transferred to the University of Michigan after Seggerman left UNC where he played for the Wolverines for the 2025 season, reaching the NCAA doubles final. Kittay, while still taking on-line classes at Michigan, elected not to return to play college tennis for the Wolverines in 2026.
