Bryans win sixth Delray title; Stanford women top Texas

Bob Bryan, serving, and Mike Bryan will retire after the
U.S. Open in September. File photo by Paul Bauman

   The homecourt advantage helped former Stanford stars Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan win another title today.
   The top-seeded Bryan twins, Southern California natives who now live in Florida, edged fourth-seeded Luke Bambridge of Great Britain and Ben McLachlan (Cal, 2011-14) of Japan 3-6, 7-5 (10-5) to claim the Delray Beach Open for the second consecutive year and record-extending sixth overall.
   "It's amazing to win this title again in our backyard," Bob Bryan said on atptour.com. "I have been staying at home, and I have so many friends and family here. They kept us fighting and focused. Those are the people that have your back.
   "We were down most of the match. The other team was outplaying us for over an hour. Had it been any other place, it would have been easy to (lie) down. But here, they kept us in it until we got a little bit of luck."
   The Bryans, who will turn 42 in April and retire after the U.S. Open in September, won all three of their matches this week in match tiebreakers. They triumphed in their first-round match against Australians Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson by walkover.
   The Bryans have won five other tournaments six times – the Australian Open, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Monte Carlo – and at least one ATP Tour title as a team for 20 consecutive years. They own 119 tour-level championships overall.
   Bambridge, who won the 2017 Fairfield, Calif., Challenger with David O'Hare of Ireland, and McLachlan, a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native country, earned their first ATP Tour crown last month in Auckland.
   Oracle Pro Series – Men's and women's tournaments are scheduled for Sept. 21-27 at Stanford.
   Stanford women – The No. 12 Cardinal beat No. 3 Texas 4-3 in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.
   Emma Higuchi, a 5-foot-2 (1.57-meter) senior from Los Angeles, gave Stanford (8-1) an insurmountable 4-1 lead by defeating Marta Perez Mur 6-4, 6-1 on Court 6.
   Cal women – The No. 18 Bears lost at No. 2 UCLA 7-0 on Friday and No. 12 Pepperdine 5-0 on Saturday. The latter match was shortened because of rain and lightning in Malibu, Calif.