Bob and Mike Bryan aren’t done being the top doubles team in the world just yet, and they were able to prove this on Thursday in London at the ATP World Tour Finals.
The American twins won what was by far the most dramatic and exciting match of the tournament by taking out the home favorite team of Jamie Murray of Britain and John Peers of Australia in a tight three setter. The singles event saw Roger Federer go perfect in round robin play and Novak Djokovic secure his spot in the semifinal round. Djokovic’s win locked up a match-up with Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, while Roger Federer will await Friday’s results to see who he will be facing.
The Bryans vs. Murray-Peers match had a great amount of tension and intensity from the start, as it would decide who would be the second team to advance from the group after Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea clinched their spot in the semis on Tuesday. Three tiebreaks were needed to decide the match as there was only one break for each team throughout the match, both coming in the first set. Murray and Peers were the much better team in the first set winning 78 percent of their service points, including 77 percent on their second serves, and they carried this success into the tiebreak as they took it 7-5. The roles reversed in the second set as the American duo was the better team and proved it in the tiebreak. After winning 89 percent of their first serve points and winning twice as many points on return as Murray and Peers, they took the second set tiebreak 7-5. The drama couldn’t have gotten any more intense as the semifinal spot would be decided by a super tiebreak, which saw 30 points played. After many exciting points, it was the No. 1 team in the world that was able to come out on top, winning the super tiebreak 16-14, for a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 16-14 win, saving five match points. Not only did the win secure them a spot in the semifinals, it also gives them a little breathing room in the race for the year end No. 1 doubles team ranking.
Federer’s match with Kei Nishikori was a definite crowd pleaser as the two battled at a very high level for over two hours. The 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win for Federer was set up by his dominance on the first serve, as he only lost eight points in the entire match after getting the first ball in. Another major factor that came as a surprise to many Federer fans was the fact that he went perfect on break chances, breaking Nishikori each of the six times he was able to earn a break point. On the other end of the spectrum, Nishikori was able to earn himself 12 break points, but only succeeded on five of them. The entire match was extremely close as only three points separated the two men once the match was over. While the loss saw Nishikori get eliminated from the tournament, he can use this result, as well as his win over Tomas Berdych, to boost his confidence level heading into 2016. Federer, on the other hand, will use this battle to prepare himself for the more intense matches that wait ahead in the knockout rounds.
Djokovic will be joining Federer in the semifinals as he was able to defeat Tomas Berdych in what was a surprisingly difficult match for the Serbian. Berdych fought hard throughout the entire match and had his chances as he was able to convert on both break points he had in the match. The only problem was that he only got two break points, while Djokovic earned 12 and converted on four of them. The main difference between the two players was Djokovic’s ability to win 71 percent of the points on Berdych’s second serve, setting up the 12 break opportunities that he was able to earn throughout the match. Berdych leaves London after going 0-3 in round robin play for the first time in his six appearances at the World Tour Finals, while Djokovic was able to lock up the second place spot of the group by virtue of the 6-3, 7-5 win. Using his extraordinary defense to fight off the powerful game of the 2010 Wimbledon finalist, Djokovic shrugged off 10 aces and was nearly able to win half of the points on Berdych’s serve.
The other doubles match of the day had much smaller implications and drama as the Italian pairing of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini were able to leave London with some pride, getting a 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 win over Bopanna and Mergea. Bopanna and Mergea actually won six more points than Bolelli and Fognini over the course of the match, but the Australian Open champions were able to win the more important points. The loss doesn’t hurt Bopanna and Mergea much, though, as they will still leave the group in first place.
With Djokovic securing his spot in the semifinal round of the World Tour Finals, fans will be given a treat this weekend. Djokovic’s match with Rafael Nadal in the semis will surely be a classic, as both players have been in amazing form at the end of this 2015 season. The other semifinal will see Federer take on either Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka, which will also surely be a great match to watch. While the teams of Bopanna/Mergea and the Bryan Brothers know they will be playing in the semifinal round of the doubles, they will have to wait until the end of Friday to figure out who they will be playing, as the other doubles group is still far from being determined.
Bryan Brothers