Past, present Stanford players dominate

Bob Bryan, left, and Mike Bryan, shown in 2016, won
the first all-brothers final on the ATP World Tour since
1977. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Stanford had a lot to celebrate today.
   The Bryan brothers (1997-98) captured the doubles title in the Delray Beach Open, Nicole Gibbs (2011-13) won an all-Stanford singles final on the women's Challenger circuit, and the Cardinal men beat visiting Cal 4-2 in the Big Slam.
   Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, 40-year-old natives of Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, beat second-seeded Ken and Neal Skupski of Great Britain 7-6 (5), 6-4 for their fifth Delray Beach title, 117th overall and first since last April in Monte Carlo.
   It was the first all-brothers doubles final on the ATP World Tour since 1977, when Vijay and Anand Amritraj of India beat John and David Lloyd of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 at Queen's Club in London.
   Bob Bryan injured his right hip in the Madrid final last May, had replacement surgery in August and returned to the circuit in January.
   "We're very, very, very pleased with how this week's gone," Bob Bryan said on atptour.com. "Our expectations ... have been a little bit lower than they have in the past. We've just been trying to have fun and enjoy our time together, and it's actually resulted in some really good play. We didn't lose a set this week. We're taking care of our serve and just weathering the tough times during matches."
   Unseeded Radu Albot of Moldova won the singles title, saving three championship points in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory over qualifier Daniel Evans of Great Britain.
   Evans, 28, double-faulted on the 29-year-old Albot's third championship point. Albot also lost the first set in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Both 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) finalists were seeking their first ATP title.
   Gibbs, seeded second, outplayed Kristie Ahn (2011-14), seeded fifth, 6-3, 6-3 in the $25,000 Shoebacca Women's Open in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
   Gibbs, who will turn 26 next Sunday, improved to 5-0 against Ahn, 26, and claimed her sixth Challenger singles crown (all in the United States). The pair led Stanford to the 2013 NCAA team title.
   The No. 6 Stanford men (9-2), coached by Paul Goldstein, rallied to defeat No. 40 Cal (2-4) after losing the doubles point. Sameer Kumar, ranked 31st, clinched the victory by beating 6-2, 6-4 Yuta Kikuchi on Court 3.
   The No. 24 Cal women defeated No. 17 USC 4-2 in Berkeley. Maria Smith won the clincher, beating Becca Weissmann 6-3, 6-3 on Court 5. The Bears improved to 5-3, and the Women of Troy dropped to 4-2.
   Back on the ATP World Tour, unseeded Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France topped third-seeded Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-7 (4) [10-3] to win the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.