Bryan Brothers Fail to Reach Semifinals; Damm-Paes Qualify
© Getty Images By Sandra Harwitt
In a surprising turn of events here at the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, the world No. 1 team of Bob and Mike Bryan (audio) will not advance to the semifinals.
Fourth seeds Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett, who came out of the round-robin Red Group with a perfect 3-0 record, ended the Bryans opportunity to reach the semifinals with a stunning 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 defeat of the top-ranked team on Thursday.
“We've won three in a row, so we're on top of the world,” Ullyett said after upsetting the Bryan brothers.
Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai Photo Gallery
Watch All Doubles Matches Free Online!
© Getty Images Ullyett was quick to explain why it was important for him and Hanley to beat the Bryan brothers even though they had already been guaranteed a berth in the semifinals. One reason was that it put extra money in their pockets for winning the match.
But there was another more important reason as Ullyett explained: “I think this is out of respect to the Bryans, to have them out of the tournament, it's actually good for everyone. They're hard to beat. I'm sure the other guys are quite happy about that because they're the best team in the world, you know.
“So to not have to play them again is actually quite nice. So we're really trying to knock them out of the tournament, yeah.”
Bryan Brothers Play Shanghai Concert
They Bryans have not been playing at the top of their game this week and ended the round-robin portion with a 1-2 record, similar to the records that Martin Damm and Leander Paes as well as Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram had in their group.
© Getty Images The nod for the second doubles spot in the semifinals from the Red Group went to Damm and Paes, who won a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory over the Israeli duo Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the other doubles match on Thursday.
Damm and Paes won that spot because they had the highest winning percentage of sets.
Doubles matches on Friday will determine who will come out of the Gold Group for the semifinals between Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, currently at 2-0; Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, currently at 1-1; and Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjic, currently at 1-1, and Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, currently at 0-2.
Groupings and Results
Exclusive Audio
|
