THE BRYAN BROTHERS OPEN WORLD TOUR FINALS WITH WIN, MURRAY AND SOARES BEAT MAX MIRNYI AND TREAT HUEY

Written by: on 13th November 2016
unnamed-59
THE BRYAN BROTHERS OPEN WORLD TOUR FINALS WITH WIN, MURRAY AND SOARES BEAT MAX MIRNYI AND TREAT HUEY  |

By Ricky Dimon

 

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won the first match of the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, beating Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 7-6(3), 6-0. The Bryan brothers did not face a single break point in the entire contest as they prevailed in just one hour and six minutes.

 

Bob posted the following on Twitter: “Good start for us at the #ATPFinals. Next match Tuesday.”

 

The Bryans, currently ranked third in the world, still have a chance to finish the year No. 1. They would, however, have to win just about every single match–and the title–in addition to getting help from the two teams ahead of them (Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut; Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares).

 

“We’ve been on the verge of having a breakthrough but haven’t been able to get over that hump,” Bob said of the duo’s 2016 campaign. “We’ve had a coaching change this year and are very happy with Dusan Vemic as our new coach. We’ve been working hard on a lot of new things and are waiting for it to pay off. We have been putting in the time and the work.

 

“It’s tougher to be here competing for the No. 1 spot, but at the same time it’s nice to be the underdog and take the guys by surprise. I feel like we’re moving in the right direction and good things are coming on the horizon. Hopefully sooner than later.”

Good start for us at the #ATPFinals. Next match Tuesday – Photo by @Bryanbros via Twitter.

 

Good things came for the Bryan brothers on Sunday, just as they did for Murray and Soares. The British-Brazilian pairing defeated Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 6-4, 7-5 in the group’s second round-robin match. Murray and Soares saved 10 of 12 break points before prevailing in one hour and 20 minutes.

 

The eventual winners began each set with clutch play. They dug out of a 0-40 hole in the opening game and survived a 15-40 scare in the first game of the second set. Although Murray and Soares gave back all of a 3-0 lead in the second, they broke Mirnyi in the 12th game to clinch victory. It ended when a Huey volley that had been called good was challenged and shown to be out.

 

“It would be a huge achievement to finish the year as the best team,” Soares said of the battle for the No. 1 ranking. “We knew we could win the big ones once we started playing together. It’s a good feeling to have. We came on pretty strong at the beginning. Our goal now is to win the whole thing here.”

 

Murray and Soares are less than 400 points behind Herbert and Mahut in the 2016 race.

 

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

 

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.