Top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan completed a marathon 48 hours of tennis to take the doubles title on Friday at the Aegon International in Eastbourne. After winning two matches on Thursday and a semi-final earlier on Friday, they downed Rohan Bopanna and Andre Sa 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-3 in an entertaining final.
The win gives the Bryan brothers a staggering 113th ATP World Tour doubles title and their first of the season. They last prevailed at Eastbourne in 2003 (d. Eagle/Palmer). Their last title came in May 2016 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome. Fittingly, their latest victory comes after Bryan/Bryan reunited last month at Roland Garros with coach David Macpherson. They pick up 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings point and split $34,430.
“Mike and I are excited to win this title not only because it's been awhile but because we are competing at a level that we are both proud of. This win is a great shot of confidence heading into next week. Congrats to Andre and Rohan on a good week. Playing four matches in two days is a strong effort,” Bob Bryan said. “It was our first time in Eastbourne and we were really impressed by their tournament. The courts, the facilities, staff, and food were all first class. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and hope to be back in 2018.”
Bopanna/Sa were making their team debut this week. Bopanna has won titles this year in Chennai (w/Nedunchezhiyan) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo (w/Cuevas), while Sa prevailed on home soil in Sao Paulo (w/Dutra Silva). Bopanna/Sa earn 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split a cheque for $18,100.
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Rain throughout the week forced the semi-finals and final to be played on Friday. Bryan/Bryan opened the day with a 7-6(1), 6-4 win over Andre Begemann and Andres Molteni, while Bopanna/Sa defeated Robin Haase and Dominic Inglot 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9.
In the championship match, both teams traded service holds throughout the opening set, but Bopanna/Sa went on a three-point run at 4/4 in the tie-break to take the early advantage. The Bryans responded by earning the lone break of the match at 2-1 in the second set, then storming through the Match Tie-break to finish as the last team standing.