BRYAN BROTHERS ONE WIN AWAY FROM ANOTHER WORLD TOUR FINALS TRIUMPH, MELO AND DODIG LOOM IN FINAL BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 16th November 2014

BRYAN BROTHERS ONE WIN AWAY FROM ANOTHER WORLD TOUR FINALS TRIUMPH, MELO AND DODIG LOOM IN FINAL BY RICKY DIMON |

Editors note : Sorry to our readers & to Ricky. This was a lost post. It went missing on the rotation. But it’s still a great read.

Bob and Mike Bryan are looking to become the first team since…wait for it…themselves to lose an opening match at the World Tour Finals and then go on to capture the title. They did it 2009, when they dropped their first round-robin tilt to Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram before winning their next four matches–including over Mirnyi and Ram in the final.

That gave the Bryans their third year-end championship title in their fifth career final at the event. They have not won it since, so they are stuck with just that one winners’ trophy in a span of nine years dating back to back-to-back triumphs in 2003 and 2004 in Houston, Tex.

The brothers will have a chance for another title when they take the court on Sunday inside London’s O2 Arena for a date with Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo. Bob and Mike, who lost their first round-robin match to Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt, dominated a semifinal showdown against Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-0, 6-3 on Saturday.

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

Needing only 53 minutes to advance, the Americans took 10 of the match’s first 11 games en route to extending their perfect record against Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin to 4-0.

The Bryan brothers are 4-2 lifetime against Dodig and Melo, who ousted Kubot and Lindstedt in the semifinals. The two finalist teams faced each other in round-robin action last year in London, with the Croatian-Brazilian pairing winning 10-8 in a super-tiebreaker. A 2013 Wimbledon final clash saw the Bryans prevail over Dodig and Melo in four sets.

It has been a great week for the doubles competition, with entertaining matches aplenty. Exposure has arguably been enhanced by the fact that so many singles matches–at least prior to the semis–were borderline snooze-fests.

Attendance has been outstanding for doubles, and it should be once again on Sunday as Bob and Mike–the 2014 ATP fan favorite award winners–battle for another title.

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

Topics: Atp World Tour, Bryan Brothers, London, Ricky Dimon, tennis doubles

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

November 16, 2014 at 8:20 am

#BRYANBROTHERS ONE WIN AWAY FROM ANOTHER #WORLDTOURFINALS TRIUMPH, MELO AND DODIG LOOM IN FINAL BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/qTwy6WAjg9