FAN FAVORITE’S THE BRYAN BROTHERS LIVE TO TREAT THE LONDON CROWD TO ANOTHER DAY / THE DOUBLES HAVE BEEN THE BEST MATCHES OF THE WEEK

Written by: Staff on 14th November 2014

FAN FAVORITE'S THE BRYAN BROTHERS LIVE TO TREAT THE LONDON CROWD TO ANOTHER DAY / THE DOUBLES HAVE BEEN THE BEST MATCHES OF THE WEEK |

Fan favorite Bryans live to treat the London crowd to another day

By Ricky Dimon

This week in London got off to an inauspicious start for Bob and Mike Bryan. They lost their opening round-robin doubles match in Group A competition at the World Tour Finals 7-6(3), 6-3 to Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt. Recovering from an 0-1 record–especially after losing in straight sets–is a challenging endeavor. Just ask this year’s other participants.

Of the eight semifinalists (singles and doubles combined), only two recovered from losing their first match to survive until the weekend: French duo Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and…the Bryan Brothers.

The Bryans did it by winning their second tilt 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-6 over Jean-Julien Roger and Horia Tecau to set up a winner-advance, loser-go home showdown with Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares on Friday night. Peya and Soares made it tough on the brothers, but they managed to prevail in two tiebreakers: 7-6(3), 7-6(2).

Bob and Mike failed to break serve in the first game despite leading 0-40 and they were promptly broken to fall behind 2-0. Adversity, however, was nothing new to them and they once again answered the call. The top-seeded Americans managed to force a tiebreaker and eventually won five of the last six points in the set.

Alexander Peya (R) of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil in action against Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan of the United States during their round robin doubles match for ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 14 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

After 12 straight service holds in the second, two double-faults doomed Peya and Soares in the next tiebreaker. The Bryans raced through it to seal the deal in one hour and 33 minutes.

“O ano oficial acaba aqui,” Soares posted on Twitter after the match. “Mais uma grande temporada com grandes resultados e belos momentos. Muito positiva e mais um grande aprendizado.” (Translation: “The official year ends. Another great season with great results and beautiful moments. Much more positive and a great learning experience.).

For the Bryan Brothers, the season continues on Saturday against Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin. The world No. 1s will hope to prolong a week that has suddenly become a great one, complete with being honored as the ATP’s 2014 fan-favorite doubles team.

Bob posted the following on Twitter “It was an honor to receive the ATP Fans Favorite award tonight at #TheO2. Thanks to everyone who voted. #grateful”.

USA double partners Bob (L) and Mike Bryan receive the ATP trophy for the best doubles team of 2014 at the ATP World Tour Finals mens tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 13 November 2014 . EPA/ANDY RAIN

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: ATP World Tour Finals, Ricky Dimon, tennis doubles, The Bryan Brothers

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10sBalls_com says:

November 14, 2014 at 8:15 pm

FAN FAVORITE’S THE @Bryanbrothers LIVE TO TREAT THE #LONDON CROWD TO ANOTHER DAY / THE #DOUBLES HAVE BEEN THE BEST… http://t.co/f60WgoNIuN
suebforever says:

November 14, 2014 at 11:45 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: FAN FAVORITE’S THE @Bryanbrothers LIVE TO TREAT THE #LONDON CROWD TO ANOTHER DAY / THE #DOUBLES HAVE BEEN THE BEST… htt…