Kiwi Michael Venus and German partner Tim Puetz have toppled the world's top doubles combination to win the ATP 500 title at Dubai.
The fourth seeds overcame Croatians Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic 6-3 6-7(3) 16-14 in an hour 56 minutes, as Venus defended the title he won last year with Aussie John Peers.
Pavic and Mektic are Tokyo Olympic gold medallists and Wimbledon champions, and beat Venus-Puetz in their only previous meeting at Vienna last year.
Venus and Puetz had battled throughout the tournament, losing the first sets and needing match tiebreaks in each of their three previous outings, but jumped on their Croatian rivals early, breaking them twice in the opening set.
They faced just one breakpoint during the contest, but had to survive three matchpoints in the tiebreak, before converting their fourth chance to seal victory, with Venus converting a forehand volley.
The pair have now won three tournaments in less than 12 months, since they linked up after last year's French Open. Venus has now won 17 ATP titles with five different partners - including Pavic.
More to come