MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Treat Conrad Huey and Brit Dominic Inglot shocked top seed and reigning champion Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil with a gripping 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 victory to rule the doubles event of the Aegon International in Eastbourne, Great Britain Friday night.
The marathon finals victory came just hours after the Huey-Inglot duo turned back the wild card pair of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins of Great Britain, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in a match that was suspended on account of darkness Thursday.
The victory was the first by Huey and Inglot on grass and it was a confidence-booster as they compete in next week’s Wimbledon for a possible first Grand Slam title of their careers.
Along the way, Huey and Inglot pulled the rug from under second seed Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan and Leander Paes of India, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarterfinals, and Brit Jaime Murray and Aussie John Peers, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in the round-of-16.
It was also the third title for Huey, the country’s Davis Cup team spearhead, and Inglot since topping the 2012 Citi Open in Washington DC and the 2013 Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland.
Most importantly, Huey and Inglot have gained ranking points that will boost their current world ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings of 26th and 22nd, respectively.
“It was a great experience playing the finals, atmosphere was great and it was a lot of fun,†Huey told ATPworldtour.com recently.