Bryan Brothers Win Four Matches in 48 Hours for Eastbourne Tennis Title

By 10sballs Staff
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Updated: July 3, 2017

©Dusan Vemic

Top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan completed a marathon 48 hours of tennis to take the doubles title on Friday at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England. After winning two matches on Thursday and a semi-final earlier on Friday, they downed Rohan Bopanna of India and Brazilian Andre Sa 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-3 in an entertaining final.

The win gives the Bryan Brothers an amazing 113th ATP World Tour doubles title and their first of the season. They last prevailed at Eastbourne in 2003 (d. Eagle/Palmer). Their last title came in May 2016 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome. Fittingly, their latest victory comes after Bryan/Bryan reunited last month at Roland Garros with coach David Macpherson. They pick up 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $34,430

Rain throughout the week forced the semi-finals and final to be played on Friday. The Bryan twins opened the day with a 7-6(1), 6-4 win over German Andre Begemann and Andres Molteni of Argentina, while Bopanna/Sa defeated Robin Haase and Dominic Inglot 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9.

“Mike and I are excited to win this title not only because it’s been awhile, but because we are competing at a level that we are both proud of. This win is a great shot of confidence heading into next week. Congrats to Andre and Rohan on a good week. Playing four matches in two days is a strong effort,” Bob Bryan said. “It was our first time in Eastbourne and we were really impressed by their tournament. The courts, the facilities, staff, and food were all first class. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and hope to be back in 2018.”

In the championship match, both teams traded service holds throughout the opening set, but Bopanna/Sa went on a three-point run at 4/4 in the tie-break to take the early advantage. The Bryans responded by earning the lone break of the match at 2-1 in the second set, then storming through that set and through the Match Tie-break to win it easily, 10-3. Excerpted and modified from the ATP Tour WEB Site.

The Bryan Brothers with the AEGON International Eastbourne Trophy

SOME TIDBITS:

*** Their wins at Eastbourne included: Donald Young (USA)-Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia), 7-5, 6-3; Ken Skupski-Neal Skupski (Great Britain), 6-3, 6-3; Andre Begemann (Germany)-Andres Moltenni (Argentina), 7-6, 6-4; and Rohan Bopanna (India)-Andre Sa (Brazil), 6-7, 6-4, 10-3.

*** The previous week they beat Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)-Jo-Willie Tsonga (France), 7-6, 7-6, to reach the Quarters of Queens.

*** The Bros. have a record of 21-10 on the year and they are currently the #4 team in the world, and besides winning Eastbourne, they have reached the Finals of the Australian Open; the Semis of Miami, Rome, Stuttgart, and Houston; and the Quarters at Madrid, Queens, and Delray Beach.

*** The California Twins have now appeared in 168 Finals on the tour, winning 113 and being a finalist 55 times. All are records and no other team is even close.

*** Mike and Bob are loving their sharp new Izod clothes. Their Izod commercial which was very unique and very physical appeared lots on ESPN and the Tennis Channel this past Spring.

*** The Bryan Bros. Band – – – with Mike on lead guitar; Bob on piano and keyboard bass; Jim Bogios of the Counting Crows on drums and vocals; George Holdcroft on sax, piano and vocals; and Dan DeShara on guitar and vocals – – – had gala and rockin’ gigs at Indian Wells in March for 6,000 people on the stage at the BNP Paribas Open and at the venerable River Oaks Country Club in Houston for 1,500.