Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan kept their hopes of a semifinal place at the ATP World Tour Finals alive after they defeated the eighth-seeded pair Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4 in just under an hour of play.
The four-time champions now have two wins to their name in the Edberg/Jarryd group but must await the result of the Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares who face Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo to see whether they qualify or not.
Dominant Bryans
The Bryans came out of the traps pretty quickly. The third game saw the American twins race away to a love-40 lead on the Mirnyi serve. The number three seeds who looked very sharp early on broke the giant Belarussian to get off to the perfect start. They then consolidated with a comfortable hold of serve as they went 3-1 ahead. The Bryans continued to run away with the opening set and with the score at 4-2, Mirnyi was then put under pressure on serve again. At 30-30, the left-hander hit a volley winner to bring up a further two break points.
The Filipino then brought out his defensive skills and denied the Bryans before going on to win the deciding point to stay in touch at 4-3. The California-born twins were doing their job, holding serve to love to go within one game of the set. It was the 31-year-old who were keeping the eighth seeds in the match, holding his service game as they looked to find a way back into the set. However, the Bryans did not falter on serve and quickly reached two set points with an ace. An error from the eight seeds gave the former world number one team the set, 6-4.
Bryans grab lone break; clinch match
Huey and Mirnyi started the set much more positive than the first. After holding serve, they then came from love-30 down to win the next three points to bring up their first break point of the entire match. The Filippino then netted a forehand as he missed a chance to attack the Bryans. It was Huey who then put a volley long of the baseline as the Bryans, who were put under pressure for the first time escaped the game to draw level at 1-1. The eighth seeds were looking better in this set than they ever did in the first.
But the Americans were just too strong and the seventh game proved just as much. It was Bob Bryan who fired a forehand down the center to bring up triple break points. Mirnyi, who is usually very good at overhead shots put this one straight into the net as the 38-year-old's broke to go 4-3 up. The twins consolidated the break by holding serve and going 5-3 up. Serving for the match at 5-4, the Bryans struggled and were taken to a deciding point when Treat Huey stayed back and ripped a forehand winner down the line. The Bryans put the contest to bed with a great, powerful first serve.