Bryans Win Four Matches In 48 Hours For Eastbourne Title
Bryans Win Four Matches In 48 Hours For Eastbourne Title
Top seeds defeat Bopanna/Sa in Friday final
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. After winning two matches on Thursday and a semi-final earlier on Friday, they downed Rohan Bopanna and Andre Sa 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-3 in an entertaining final.
The win gives the Bryan brothers a staggering 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 point and split $34,430
Bopanna/Sa were making their team debut this week. Bopanna has won titles this year in Chennai (w/Nedunchezhiyan) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo (w/Cuevas), while Sa prevailed on home soil in Sao Paulo (w/Dutra Silva). Bopanna/Sa earn 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split a cheque for $18,100.
Rain throughout the week forced the semi-finals and final to be played on Friday. Bryan/Bryan opened the day with a 7-6(1), 6-4 win over Andre Begemann and Andres Molteni, while Bopanna/Sa defeated Robin Haase and Dominic Inglot 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9.
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 the Match Tie-break to finish as the last team standing.