It was a case of the stuck ball. At 7-5, 4-0, Stefan Kozlov and Taylor Fritz were trying to rally their way into their first-round match against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan at the Delray Beach Open.
Then the ball became stuck. Kozlov had tried to hit the ball back to the Bryans but the ball wedged itself perfectly into the neck of his racquet.
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Instead of getting upset, though, Kozlov had to laugh. He tossed his racquet to Mike Bryan, who tried to loosen the trapped ball and then threw the racquet back before play continued.
The Bryan brothers, four-time Delray Beach Open champions (2009, 2010, 2014, 2015), will next meet compatriots Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow.
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, top seeds at Delray Beach Open, advanced past #NextGenATP stars Taylor Fritz and Stefan Kozlov, 7-5, 6-0 on Wednesday. The four-time champions needed one hour, two minutes to book their place in the quarter-finals, where they'll face fellow Americans Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow. In other action, top seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus reached the Open 13 Provence semi-finals after a 6-3, 6-3 win over Florin Mergea and Daniel Nestor. Klaasen and Venus reached their second semi-final of the season (Auckland) with great composure, saving all six break points they faced in the 57-minute contest. Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin needed a Match tie-break to join Klaasen and Venus in the final four. The...
Mike and Bob Bryan are through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a point to prove as they bid to win their first major title since the 2018 US Open.
Call them the comeback kings. For the third straight match, sixth seeds and six-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan battled from a set down to advance at the Australian Open. On Sunday, the American twins prevailed 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-3 over French duo Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin, needing two hours and five minutes to advance to the quarter-finals. Winners at Melbourne Park in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013, the Bryans are making their 19th consecutive appearance at the first Grand Slam of the year. The Americans have defeated three unseeded teams to reach the last eight, but each encounter was far from straightforward. They stormed back from 5-7, 4-4 0/40 down to defeat Marton Fucsovics and Yoshihito...