Bryans Join Hewitt/Groth In Doubles Quarters

Call them the comeback kings. For the third straight match, sixth seeds and six-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan battled from a set down to advance at the Australian Open. 

On Sunday, the American twins prevailed 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-3 over French duo Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin, needing two hours and five minutes to advance to the quarter-finals. Winners at Melbourne Park in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013, the Bryans are making their 19th consecutive appearance at the first Grand Slam of the year.

The Americans have defeated three unseeded teams to reach the last eight, but each encounter was far from straightforward. They stormed back from 5-7, 4-4 0/40 down to defeat Marton Fucsovics and Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round, and rallied after dropping an opening tie-break to top Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald in the second round.

The Bryans will next face 15th seeds Marcin Matkowski and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, who advanced via walkover after Radu Albot and Hyeon Chung withdrew.

In other action, the dream run continued for Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt. In front of a raucous crowd on Hisense Arena, the Aussies advanced when Spanish opponents Pablo Andujar and Albert Ramos-Vinolas retired due to injury at 3-all in the first set. Hewitt advances to just his second Grand Slam doubles quarter-final, 18 years removed from his first at the 2000 US Open (won title with Mirnyi). Groth is into the quarters for the second straight year, having progressed as far with Chris Guccione in 2017. The 30-year-old Aussie stalwart is retiring from professional tennis following the tournament.

Groth and Hewitt will next face Colombian power Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. The 11th seeds routed Leander Paes and Purav Raja 6-1, 6-2 in just 69 minutes. Cabal and Farah, 10-time ATP World Tour doubles champions, will contest their second Australian Open quarter-final (2013).