Bob and Mike Bryan needed only eight minutes today to reach the men's doubles quarterfinals of the French Open.
No, the top-ranked identical twins didn't complete the match that quickly. The 35-year-old Bryans are arguably the greatest men's doubles team in history, but they're not superhuman.
The former Stanford All-Americans, originally from Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, led unseeded Christopher Kas of Germany and Oliver Marach of Austria 1-0, 15-0 when the right-handed Marach retired with a right shoulder injury.
The Bryans, who have won a record 13 Grand Slam men's doubles titles but only one French Open 10 years ago, will meet eighth-seeded Spaniards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 11th-seeded Taylor Townsend of Stockbridge, Ga., dispatched Victoria Rodriguez of Mexico 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of girls singles.
The 17-year-old Townsend, who will make her World TeamTennis debut for the Sacramento Capitals on July 7, will face second-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Bencic, 16, advanced with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
Townsend is ranked No. 333 in the world in women's singles and Bencic No. 366.
In Townsend's WTA main-draw debut in March, she stunned then-No. 57 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the first round at Indian Wells before losing to 2008 champion and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic.
Bencic qualified for a $50,000 clay-court tournament in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., in late April and reached the semifinals.
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