Bryan, Sock win ATP Finals opener; Mayo to debut

   Fifth-seeded Mike Bryan (Stanford, 1997-98) and Jack Sock of the United States beat third seeds and 2017 runners-up Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-3, 7-6 (5) today in a round-robin opener at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
   Bryan and Sock, this year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions, saved a set point with Sock serving at 4-5 in the second set. Kubot double-faulted on match point.
   Mike Bryan's 40-year-old twin, Bob, is recovering from hip surgery in August. They have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles championships and captured four ATP Finals titles (2003, 2004, 2009 and 2014).
   The ATP Finals consists of the top eight singles players and best eight doubles teams of 2018. The four singles players and four doubles teams with the best records after three round-robin matches each advance to Saturday's semifinals.
   Also in Group Knowles/Nestor, top-seeded Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Pavic of Croatia downed eighth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 7-6 (3). Bryan and Sock are scheduled to play Marach and Pavic on Wednesday at 4 a.m. PST (Tennis Channel).
   In Group Llodra/Santoro, second-seeded Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia are 1-0 with fourth-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil. Sixth-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand are 0-1 with seventh-seeded Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Alexander Peya of Austria.
   USTA Pro Circuit -- Keenan Mayo, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Illinois freshman who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, is scheduled to make his Challenger main-draw debut on his home courts in Champaign, Ill., on Tuesday.
   Mayo, 18, will play fellow qualifier Ryan Shane, the 2015 NCAA singles champion from Virginia, in the first round of the $75,000 JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana.
   Mayo defeated Sem Verbeek, a 24-year-old Dutch left-hander who starred at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) on Sunday in the final round of qualifying.