The American duo of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan scored their first win in the Round Robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday. The Bryans easily dispatched of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
Bryans Find Rhythm Early
After struggling for the majority of their opening match in London, Bob and Mike Bryan got off to a much-needed quick start on Tuesday. Bob Bryan opened the festivities with some big first serves that put his brother in position to put away multiple points at the net on the Italians' return. The Bryans took the lead 1-0 with little sweat. Simone Bolelli opened on serve for the Italians. It was the Italians who blew what appeared to be an easy hold from 40-15 to being broken due to a string of errors off of Fognini volleys. The Bryans won four straight points to grab a 2-0 lead on a forehand winner from Mike Bryan. Mike would follow up with a quick love service hold to propel the Americans to a 3-0 lead. It was all service holds the rest of the set as the Bryans closed out the set with Bob hitting a solid first serve that forced Bolelli to send a forehand return into the net for set point at 6-3.
The Bryans were nearly perfect on serve in the set, winning 20 of 22 service points. That included 14 of 14 on their first serves. Bolelli and Fognini were fairly sharp as well, winning 75 percent of their first serve points. The Italians did drop three of five points on second serves in the set. The Americans won the lone break point of the set.
Bryans Cruise To Victory In The Second
With Bolelli serving, it was a good back and forth battle off the ground to open the set. The Bryans would see an early break point after Bolelli sprayed a forehand wide. A forehand smash from Fognini erased the first break point. The next point saw a forehand from Bolelli clip the tape in a ground exchange and wound up out for the break to the Americans. With Bob serving, the Bryans would hold behind some nifty volleying at the net from Mike for a 2-0 lead. Two service exchanges pushed the score to 3-1 in favor of the Bryans. In the fifth game with Bolelli again serving, the Americans took advantage of some unforced errors by both Italians to secure another break. That came on a long forehand shot from Bolelli to give the Bryans a 4-1 lead. After a pair of swapped service holds, Mike served out the match with match point converted after a vicious second serve forced Bolelli to send a forehand return into the net for a 6-3, 6-2 win for the American twins.
The Italians struggled serving in the second set as they won just 55 percent of their service points, while the Bryans won 72 percent of their service points. The brothers did not face a single break point in the match and converted three of five break chances against their opponents.
Smith-Ashe Doubles Group Standings
The win brings the Bryans record in the Round Robin stage to 1-1, while the Italians drop to 0-2 in the Smith-Ashe group. The Bryans will face the team of Jamie Murray and John Peers who also stand at 1-1 in their final Round Robin match. The winner advances to the semifinals. Group leaders Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea are already through to the semifinals at 2-0. They will finish first in the group regardless of whether they win or lose to Bolelli-Fognini by verge of beating both the Bryans and Murray-Peers.