Bob and Mike Bryan capture 2011 Monte-Carlo Masters doubles crown
Top doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan undid South American pros Juan Ignacio Chela and Bruno Soares in easy straight sets 6-3, 6-2 at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, winning the prestigious ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in straight
sets. This is their 70th victory on tour, and the 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series championship which they have won.
The title match began with Chela and Soares taking a quick lead, breaking their opponents within the first three games at 2-1. It seemed as if they would be able to pose a serious threat to the top-ranked Bryan brothers, especially
as the South American team had undone two seeded doubles teams on their way to securing a place in the title match. However, the Bryan brothers made no secret of their intentions to shatter Chela and Soares, and broke their opponents once again towards the
end of the set to take a 6-3 lead. This helped them to build a considerable amount of firepower, which they capitalised upon by taking a 2-0 lead in the second set of the final. They saved three break points in this part of the match, and managed to win the
match, 6-3, 6-2 in under one hour.
This is the third year-to-date title for the two brothers, who scored a major win at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year before winning on clay at Houston last week. Bob Bryan commented on their victory, saying, “it
feels great to win title number 70, but even better to beat an experienced clay-court team in one of our favourite tournaments of the year. Thanks to Prince Albert (of Monaco) for staying to watch the doubles final, we really appreciate it.”
Bob and Mike Bryan, who are brothers hailing from America, have competed in the title match of Monte Carlo three times prior to this. Their first final appearance at the clay courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club was in 2005,
when they faced Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic in the title match. The Bryan brothers could not score a win against their opponents this time, but made another showing at the final of the tournament in 2007. This time, their campaign was successful and culminated
in their defeat of French doubles team Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet in the title of the tournament. Their last appearance at the title match was in 2009, when they lost the chance to win the title due to their defeat at the hands of Daniel Nestor and
Nenad Zimonjic.
Mike Bryan also seemed elated after the match, saying, “We’re very happy to play so well in Monte Carlo; it’s been a while since we’ve won here. We’re feeling really good on the clay and we’re looking forward to the rest of the
clay-court season.” The top-ranked team is expected to produce superior results at the coming clay events of 2011.
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