The most exciting tennis so far at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open has come from the Men’s Doubles draw. Tennis fans were absolutely thrilled earlier this afternoon as the Bryan Twins came back from a set down and saved match points to win 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 17-15 to defeat Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers. The Spaniards were more solid than the Bryans on this day but they couldn’t execute on the big points in the tiebreakers. The Bryans looked really strange today, awkwardly getting caught in bad positions and shot selection that was neither smart nor effective. Normally you see the twins putting poaches away, returning solidly, and not making too many unforced errors. But on this day, they gutted out a victory despite their lack of good form and move on in the tournament.
During the night session, Stadium 2 was completely packed as fun tennis was on display between Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez as they beat Xavier Malisse and Alexandr Dolgopolov. The “ponytail” team of Malisse/Dolgopolov were electrifying, flying across the net or chasing down angles, giving fans an unbelievable show. Nadal and M.Lopez put on a display of interesting doubles tactics and won most of the deciding points, giving them a 6-4, 6-3 victory. It was all smiles however on Stadium 2 as all four players knew that the atmosphere and energy of the stadium was a win/win for them as well as tennis in general.