Bryans Capture 38th Masters 1000 Crown

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan extended their rich vein of form on Sunday when they captured their sixth Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters doubles title. Their 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in 79 minutes keeps up the pressure on the early leaders of the ATP Doubles Race To London, for one of the eight spots at the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in November.

Bob Bryan admitted their form in the principality of Monaco may be down to a lucky charm he received this week. During the on-court trophy ceremony Bob admitted, “Thank you to Prince Albert in the stands there, he gave me a lucky coin on the first day of the tournament and he told me to keep it in my bag. It’s been good luck, so I will keep it in my bag for the rest of the year.”

Three weeks on from picking up the Miami Open presented by Itau crown (d. Khachanov/Rublev), the American twins have now clinched their 38th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. Also, seven days from their 40th birthday, the Bryans split $289,670 in prize money with their record 116th tour-level team title. They have reached the championship match in each of their past four tournaments — including the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (l. to Murray/Soares) and the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Isner/Sock).

The fourth-seeded Bryans could not convert two break point opportunities on Marach’s serve when leading 3-2 and squandered two set point chances on the Austrian’s serve at 5-4 in the first set. The Bryans then fought hard to recover from a 2/5 deficit in the tie-break following aggressive play by their opponents and sealed the 47-minute opener with their fifth straight point, after Marach struck a forehand out.

After an early exchange of breaks in the second set, the Bryans broke Pavic’s serve twice, in the fifth game — courtesy of a double fault — then again when leading 5-3, as third seeds Marach and Pavic each committed two errors.

Mike Bryan said, “Great job to Oliver and Mate this week as it’s been a great start to the season for you. Mate, I think you’re 24 and it’s your first appearance in Monte-Carlo, we’ve been playing here 20 years and we’re turning 40 next week, so you have plenty of chances to win the title here.

The Bryans improve to 2-2 lifetime against Marach and Pavic, who began the year by winning 17 straight matches, including three consecutive titles at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the ASB Classic and their first Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open.

The Austrian-Croatian tandem shared $141,820 in prize money and earned 600 ATP Doubles Rankings points.

“Congratulations on a great tournament to the Bryans, I don’t know how you keep winning,” said Pavic, during the on-court trophy ceremony. “It was a great week for us.”

Marach added, “Well done guys, a great few weeks and I hope we can battle it out more this season. I’d like to pay credit to Mate, as I didn’t know we would play together this week and I hope you get better soon… This is one of my favourite tournaments, you all do a great job.”

Did You Know?
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have now won multiple titles in each of their past 18 seasons on tour, dating back to their first championship triumph in Memphis (2001).