Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares have boosted their chances of ending the season as the No. 1 pair in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings after dispatching the Bryan Brothers 6-3, 6-4 to in their second round-robin match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Murray/Soares are on the brink of securing a semi-final place at the O2 arena, where they are locked in a battle with Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut for year-end No. 1 honours.
Last year the partnership of John Peer’s and Murray surrendered five match points facing the Americans as they exited the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. “I thought about it (last year’s match) in the changeover in the last game,” admitted Murray. “A lot of people come up and ask me about that still!
“They are the greatest team ever,” insisted Murray referring to the Bryan Brothers. “There's no kind of disputing that I think with the number of titles they've won. If we want to be the best, we got to beat the best.”
On court the quartet – Murray/Soares and the Bryans - were locked on serve in the opening exchanges. Jamie Murray gained a routine hold at 3-3 courtesy of a remarkable reaction volley by his feet.
In the very next game the Scot cut an acute smash beyond the reach of the Bryans for the first break point of the contest, before Soares consolidated their advantage by deflecting a backhand return winner down the line. The 29 minute opening set was completed as Murray held to love for 6-3, with the second seeds achieving 100 per cent success on first service points.
The Californian twins won the only previous meeting back at the ATP Masters 1000 Rome but the four-time champions at the season finale could not break the dominance of Murray/Soares on serve.
Again a single break was sufficient in the second set as British and Brazilian pairing canvassed the net with aplomb for the decisive lead. Murray was able to serve out the set to close the gap to Herbert/Mahut to just 175 points in their charge towards being crowned No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.
“We certainly played a great match from start to finish,” hailed Murray. “Probably one of our best matches of the year. We served really well throughout, cleaned up well on our serves. I think we both returned the ball smartly, put it in some difficult spots for them, and we were really active around the net.
“I think we're both super pumped about the win and should have a good chance to progress further in the tournament now.”
On the cusp of a place in the semi-finals, Murray hailed their preparation as the key to their strong start in London. “We came here, we had a good week of practice,” explained the 30-year-old. “All our team here are working hard for us, trying to make sure we have things going in the right direction each day in the lead up to the tournament. We’ve had a good focus, good energy about us. It's showing in the performances.”
The World No. 2 duo have now accumulated 40 ATP World Tour victories this season, with just 16 defeats, during a landmark campaign which has included the Australian Open and US Open titles.
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