Llodra/Zimonjic battle past Bryan Brothers to claim the doubles title – Rogers Cup 2011
A surprising result in the doubles final of Rogers Cup, as the world number one American duo of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan suffered a title defeat at the hands of the fourth seeded French-Serbian combination of Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic on Sunday afternoon.
Llodra and Zimonjic bagged their second consecutive doubles title, with clinching the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. last week. They wrapped up the Sunday’s contest in one hour and twenty nine minutes to claim the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series title, 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-5, at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada.
It was the eighth straight victory for the duo of Llodra and Zimonjic, dispending out the top seeded pair in an enthralling three-setter. The Bryan Brothers fought valiantly in the game but crumbled against the belligerence of the French-Serbian team, submitting the matchup in the third set. Llodra and Zimonjic took the opening set to get into a substantial position in the contest early but Bob and Mike reeled off the second set to bring them down on even terms again. A decisive third set was played and the top seeded pair failed to come up to the expectations, losing the championship title to Llodra and Zimonjic.
“Today I thought we played really well tactically,” told Zimonjic after winning their second consecutive doubles title. “I thought we had more chances even in the second set to maybe get a break. We didn’t take them.”
Added the Serbian, “But I thought that we played really well as a team, which is very important against such a team like the Bryans because you cannot win only by individual skills. They're great competitors. They have great hands. They help each other a lot. That's what we had to do today. For sure the next time when we play them, it's going to be even better for us to play as a team.”
The contest witnessed just one serve break, which came from the racquets of Llodra and Zimonjic in the opening set. The fourth seeded duo took the first set at 6-4 with ease but faced some serious in the second set, with the Bryan Brothers coming hard at them to make their way back in the match. Bob and Mike won the second set in the tie breaker round at 7-6(5) but failed to prevent defeat by dropping the decider at 7-10, letting Llodra and Zimonjic lift Rogers Cup doubles title.
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