Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan moved to within one victory of becoming the oldest World No. 1’s in ATP Doubles Rankings history on Saturday, defeating France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, for the first time in six meetings, 6-1, 7-6(2) at the Mutua Madrid Open.
The American twins will return to the top spot of the ATP Doubles Rankings on Monday if they win a record sixth title in the Spanish capital, surpassing Daniel Nestor’s current record as the oldest doubles No. 1 (40 years and 5 days), set on 9 September 2012, by ten days. Bryan and Bryan will be competing in their eighth Madrid final (5-2), having last won the title in 2013 (d. Peya/Soares).
The 40-year-olds are also chasing their third consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in their fourth straight final at the level, having reached the BNP Paribas Open final before triumphing at the Miami Open presented by Itau and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
The second seeds cruised to a one-set advantage after 22 minutes, dropping four points on serve as they closed out the set with a comfortable overhead for their second love hold of the match. The Frenchmen raised their game in the second set, improving their 53 per cent success rate behind their serves in the first set to 74 per cent. Herbert and Mahut created four break-point opportunities in the set, but the Bryan/Bryan served their way out of trouble, winning deciding points in consecutive service games to stay level with the fourth seeds.
The American duo rediscovered their opening-set form in the tie-break, racing out to a 4/0 lead before converting their second match point as Bob Bryan hit a backhand return winner up the line. The five-time Madrid champions will meet Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya in Sunday's final.
Mektic and Peya reached their fifth final of the 2018 ATP World Tour season, beating Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 3-6, 10-3.
The Grand Prix Hassan II champions recovered from a series of missed opportunities in the second set to win their 19th match of the season. Mektic and Peya improve to 14-4 on clay this season, highlighted by their win in Marrakech and runner-up finishes in Munich and Rio de Janeiro. Cabal and Farah were bidding to reach their second Masters 1000 final, having lost in the championship match at the 2014 Miami Open presented by Itaú (l. to Bryan/Bryan).
Mektic and Peya started well, winning 87 per cent of service points in the first set. They created seven break-point chances in the second set, but Cabal and Farah played well under pressure, fighting from 0/40 down at 1-1 and 15/40 behind at 2-2 before converting their second break opportunity in the sixth game to force a Match Tie-break.
But Mektic and Peya bounced back, winning each of their seven service points and securing three of six return points to book their spot in Sunday’s championship match.
Did You Know?
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan own a 34-11 record at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Americans won the title on two occasions on indoor hardcourts (2006, 2007) and have lifted the trophy three times on clay at the Caja Magica (2010, 2011, 2013).