Fifth-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan edged fourth-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil 7-5, 6-7 (3) [10-8] today in a round-robin opener at the ATP Finals in London.
The 39-year-old Bryan twins, who seek their fifth title in the tournament, saved three set points in the first set. They will play top-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil on Wednesday.
Kubot and Melo, this year's Wimbledon champions, beat seventh-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcel Granollers of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-4.
The Bryans, ex-Stanford stars, won the ATP Finals in 2003 and 2004 in Houston and 2009 and 2014 in London. The owners of a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, they failed to win one for the third consecutive year in 2017.
The doubles field in the ATP Finals consists of the top eight teams of the year. Each team plays three round-robin matches, and the top four pairs advance to Saturday's semifinals.
The Bryans led Stanford to NCAA team championships in both of their years there (1997-98). Bob Bryan won a rare Triple Crown in 1998, also claiming the NCAA singles and doubles titles (with Mike).
Veteran journalist Paul Bauman, based in Sacramento, covers Northern California professional, collegiate and junior tennis. Contact him at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @norcaltenczar.
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