Top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau found trouble in the opening round in Sydney as they were shocked by Australians Matt Reid and Jordan Thompson. They are joined on the sidelines by the second seeded Bryan Brothers who lost their season debut.
Top Seeds Shocked in Sydney
The two top seeded men's teams at the Apia International Sydney were upset in opening round action on Tuesday. Top seeds Rojer-Tecau blew a break lead in the second set to Reid-Thompson as the Aussies were able to fight back and even the match in a second set tiebreak. In the super tiebreak, it was Reid and Thompson who stood tall as they won all seven of their service points to score the upset 4-6, 7-6 (9), 10-4.
The second seeded Bryan Brothers are also one and done after Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming took them down in the opening round 7-5, 7-5. The second seeded brothers were broken in the 6th game of the opening set, but were back on serve by the next game. Poor serving would get the Americans into trouble again in the 12th game as Erlich-Fleming scored their second break and closed out the opening set 7-5.
The second set appeared to see the Bryans steady with an early break as they raced to a 3-1 lead. Poor serving plagued the brothers again though as they would be broken three times in the final eight games to fall 7-5, 7-5. For the match, the second seeds won just 54 percent of their service points. It is the second year in a row that the Bryans have dropped their opening match of the season. Last year, they lost at the ASB Classic in Auckland to Andre Begemann and Robin Haase.
Other ATP Sydney Results
Elsewhere in the men's doubles draw on Tuesday, fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea grinded out a win over Henri Kontinen and Denis Istomin 7-6 (2), 3-6, 10-8. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares also staved off the upset bug with a tough 6-4, 5-7, 11-9 victory over John Millman and James Duckworth. Murray-Soares rallied to win the last four points in the super tiebreak to secure the win. The Polish pairing of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski had an easier time in defeating Marc Lopez and Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-5. Opening round action also saw Leonardo Mayer and Thomaz Bellucci edge Mikhail Kukushkin and Temuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 3-6, 10-8.
Hingis-Mirza Score 27th Straight Win
The top ranked WTA team was back in action with Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza taking the court in Sydney. Hingis-Mirza easily dispatched of the Rodionova sisters, Anastasia and Arina 6-2, 6-3. The win was their 27th straight dating back to the 2015 U.S. Open. In other action, Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Laura Segemund outlasted Yi-Fan Xu and Saisai Zheng 6-7 (4), 6-2, 10-2. Roberta Vinci and Svetlana Kuznetsova teamed up to take down Daniela Hantuchova and Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (2), 6-3. Tuesday also saw Chinese duo Shuai Peng and Chen Liang awarded a walkover win as Julia Goerges and Lucie Hradecka withdrew from the tournament.
Top Seeds Survive Opening Round Scare at Hobart International
Top seeded Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja were taken to a super tiebreak in the opening round match against Annika Beck and Carina Witthoeft. The Spanish duo came out on top after dropping the opening set 2-6, 7-6 (1), 10-4. The third seeds were not as fortunate as Lyudmyla and Nadia Kichenok were upset by Australians Jarmila Wolfe and Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 6-3. Second seeds Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson rolled to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Chia-Jung Chuang and Alexandra Dulgheru.
Other WTA Hobart First Round Results
Aoyama-Ninomiya def. Nara-Takahata 6-4, 6-2
McHale-Han def. A.Smith-Rae 6-3, 6-0
Doi-Hibino def. Konta-H.Watson 6-4, 6-3
Auckland Rain Delays Doubles Play
A rain delay to start the proceedings on Tuesday meant that all doubles action scheduled for the day at the ASB Classic would be delayed until Wednesday. Today's slate of matches in Auckland is doubles heavy with six doubles matches scheduled to be played. The action will begin with 4th seeds Eric Butorak and Scott Lipsky going against Jonathan Marray and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi on the Grandstand.
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