Kiwi Michael Venus has fallen short in his quest to win a first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Venus and South African partner Raven Klaasen have lost 6-2 6-7 10-6 in one hour 25 minutes to second seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
After losing the first set in just 27 minutes, Venus and Klassen fought back to take the second in a tie-break to force a decider.
But the Australian and Finn made no mistake to win the match tie-break by a 10-6 score, and seal the title.
Despite the loss, it was an incredible run by Venus and Klaasen, who beat Wimbledon champions Jack Sock and Mike Bryan, and the world's top-ranked team Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic en route to the final.
On top of that, Venus and Klaasen have moved up to fifth in the race to qualify among the top eight doubles teams for the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London.
They will share NZ$234,000 for reaching the final.
The New Zealand and South African pair now head to the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, where Venus reached the semi-finals with former partner Ryan Harrison last year.
They have been drawn against French singles players Richard Gasquet and Adrian Mannarino in the first round.
Fellow Kiwi Artem Sitak, teaming up with Greek singles star Stefanos Tsitsipas, will face Croatian Ivan Dodig and Dutchman Robin Haase in the first round in Cincinnati.
Newshub.
