Bryans reach ATP semis; Klahn falls in Challenger

Bob Bryan serves as Mike Bryan waits at the net during
their first-round victory in the U.S. Open on Aug. 31 in
New York. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Bryan brothers reached the doubles semifinals in the ATP World Tour Finals in London today, but fellow ex-Stanford star Bradley Klahn lost in the singles quarterfinals of the $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger.
   Third-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan beat eighth-seeded Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 6-4 in the last round-robin match for both teams.
   The ATP World Tour Finals consists of the top eight singles players of the year and the top eight doubles teams.
   The 38-year-old Bryan twins, seeking their fifth title in the tournament, finished 2-1 in the four-team Edberg/Jarryd Group. Second-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil went 3-0 to advance. Sixth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil (1-2) and Huey and Mirnyi (0-3) were eliminated.
   Saturday's semifinal matchups will be determined Friday when round-robin play is completed in the Fleming/McEnroe Group. Fifth-seeded Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia lead the standings at 2-0. Fourth-seeded Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) of Spain and seventh-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., are tied at 1-1. Top-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France are last at 0-2.
   The Bryans, who grew up in Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
   Klahn, a 26-year-old qualifier from the San Diego suburb of Poway, lost to top-seeded Jared Donaldson, a 20-year-old resident of Irvine in the Los Angeles region, 6-4, 6-4.
   Klahn was playing in his first tournament in almost two years after undergoing his second operation for a herniated disc in his back in February 2015. Today's match was his sixth in six days, including a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tennys Sandgren in 1 hour, 47 minutes on Wednesday.
   Donaldson reached the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier 2 1/2 months ago, shocking 14th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium in the first round.
   The 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Donaldson is ranked No. 109, down from a career-high No. 96 in September. He must return to the top 100 to assure himself of a berth in the main draw of the Australian Open in January.
   Klahn, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) left-hander, has dropped out of the rankings after climbing as high as No. 63 in March 2014.