Top seeds and five-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have survived a scare to reach the second round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. The Americans fought back from two match points down in the match tie-break to deny countrymen Denis Kudla and Donald Young 3-6, 6-1, 11-9.

Trailing 7/9 in the match tie-break, the Bryan brothers reeled off the last four points of the match to keep their bid for a first title since ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal last August. They saved five of seven break points in the one-hour, three-minute encounter to book a second round date with another all-American duo, wild cards Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka.

Third seeds American Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky also progressed. The Americans posted a straight-forward 6-4, 6-4 result against New Zealanders Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak. They will face either Brian Baker and Dimitry Tursunov or Victor Estrella Burgos and Santiago Gonzalez.

The Australian-Brazilian pairing of Chris Guccione and Andre Sa had a tougher time of it, recovering from a set down to grind out a 5-7, 7-6(3), 10-2 win over the Austrian-Slovenian duo of Julian Knowle and Igor Zelenay. Knowle and Zelenay led a set and 5-2 in the second before Guccione and Sa mounted their comeback to book a second-round match against fourth seeds Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey.

In Marrakech, top seed Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt got off to a winning start, downing Moroccan wild cards Reda El Amrani and Lamine Ouahab 6-2, 6-4 in 57 minutes. Fourth seed Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin were not so fortunate, falling in the opening round to Rohan Bopanna and Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-2.

The all-Argentine pairing of Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez had a 6-4, 7-6(7) triumph over Teymuraz Gabashvili and Jonathan Marray, while Marin Draganja and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi fought back for a 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 result over Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming.

Back in Houston, John Isner is hoping to recreate some of his favorite memories from the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship this week.

The American has played the event eight times in as many years. But he’s had uneven showings the past four years, finishing as a finalist (2012), champion (2013) and twice losing in his first match (2014, 2015). “I’ve been feast or famine here,” Isner said on Tuesday. “I’m looking to buck that trend of the last two years.”

The No. 1 seed received a first-round bye and is scheduled to play his second-round match against compatriot Denis Kudla on Wednesday evening. He’ll start his Houston run without the help of a full-time coach. He and former ATP World Tour player Justin Gimelstob announced their split on Gimelstob’s website on Monday. The two have worked together since December 2014.

“After an incredibly enjoyable year and a half coaching one the best talents in the sport, John and I have decided to end our professional relationship,” wrote Gimelstob, who also serves on the ATP World Tour Board of Directors. “I’m very proud of what John has accomplished and I wish him the best moving forward.”

Isner said he’s without a coach for the time being, although countryman and former World No. 7 Mardy Fish of the USTA is with him in Houston. “Not having a coach is not going to hinder me at all,” Isner said. “It’s all on me to come here and play well.”

The 30 year old will try to improve on his start to 2016. Isner is 8-6 this year but three times has lost in his first match at tournaments, including at the Argentina Open, the Rio Open presented by Claro, and the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“I think I have a lot of upside, given how I play and the style of my game,” Isner said. “But at the same time if I’m not doing the right things on the court, and I’ve shown this this year, I can lose to a lot of players.”

The World No. 15’s three early exits this year have come against players ranked outside the Top 70 of the ATP Emirates Rankings, including his 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5) loss to World No. 132 Tim Smyczek last month in Miami. Isner has won less than 20 per cent (1-5) of his matches that have come down to the final set this year. For his career, he’s won almost 60 per cent of those matches.

“This year, especially, I’ve lost a lot of incredibly tough matches, which in the past I’ve been accustomed to winning. So it’s been a bit of a trying 2016 so far,” he said. “But I feel strong and I feel fit and as long as I still feel that way and want to compete and am hungry out there, I know I can do some very good things.”

Spring is the season when things really kick into high gear. No, not for tennis. For wrestling.

I’ve been a WWE fan pretty much all my life. Growing up in Greensboro, N.C., it felt like every year we would get a major WWE event in our backyard, at the Coliseum: either a Raw (WWE television program) or a pay-per-view. So my friends and I started getting really into it when we were around 10 or 11 — and I’ve been a die-hard fan ever since.

And when I say that my life revolved around WWE, I mean it revolved around WWE. Pro wrestling was life: Every Monday, like clockwork, I was right in front of the TV, ready for that week’s Raw. (My parents always made me go to bed before it ended, but I would sneak back downstairs to watch).

Every month my friends would come over and they’d each chip in five bucks so that we could watch that month’s pay-per-view. Every time Shawn Michaels would come out with a new T-shirt, I’d buy it – and I couldn’t wait to show it off at school the next day. I mean, it was serious.

In honour of this year’s WrestleMania, I thought I would draw some parallels between the two worlds that I know best: the ATP World Tour and the WWE.

Rafael Nadal is the Ultimate Warrior

That raw, intense, one-of-a-kind energy. Both won championships, and both packed stadiums. But mostly, it’s that energy. There will never be another Warrior, and there will never be another Rafa.

Nick Kyrgios is Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold is one of the most colourful characters you’ll ever come across. You never know what is going to come out of his mouth, both during a match and on the mic. Total disregard for authority. And of course: an insane talent.

Read the full story.

Marcos Baghdatis made a perfect start to his campaign at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, dismissing Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-0 in 48 minutes on Tuesday afternoon in Houston.

It marked the first double bagel on the ATP World Tour since last April, when Sergiy Stakhovsky defeated Mikhail Ledovskikh in the Munich first round, and the first at this ATP World Tour 250 tournament since 1986 (Diego Perez d. Bruno Oresar).

Baghdatis capitalised on six of his 12 break point chances and won 77 per cent of his service points en route to his most decisive tour-level victory. In 2011, he dropped one game against Denis Gremelmayr in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch quarter-finals.

The 30-year-old Cypriot will meet the winner between Fernando Verdasco and qualifier Carlos Berlocq as he looks to reach the Houston quarter-finals for the first time.

After being sidelined for the best part of the past two years after a third wrist surgery, Juan Martin del Potro revealed he was close to quitting tennis.

But with the support of his family, friends and fans, the ‘Tower Of Tandil’ has taken the first tentative steps of his comeback on the ATP World Tour in the past few weeks and, after encouraging results so far, is excited for what the future may hold.

“I’m so happy to be on tour again after almost two years without tennis life,” del Potro told ATPWorldTour.com at the BNP Paribas Open, where he reached the second round (l. to Berdych). “It was frustrating for me at the beginning of my injuries. But I kept working hard, trying to fix the problem every time.

“Now the present is very nice for me, playing tennis in these kind of events. I’m so happy to share it with all the players in the locker room and the player lounge. Just being on tour for me is amazing.”

After winning the US Open in 2009, going on to finish runner-up later that year at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and reaching a career-high No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, the world was seemingly at del Potro’s feet, with his forehand sending shockwaves around the ATP World Tour.

But instead, the Argentine’s career since then has been blighted by repeated spells off Tour due to wrist injuries. Now, with a second chance in tennis, del Potro is taking nothing for granted.

“It was very frustrating for me,” said the Argentine. “It’s very tough when you don’t get the solution quicker. You see different doctors and no-one knows about the problem. But hopefully after my third surgery, the problem is almost fixed and I am here, playing tennis again. I’m looking forward to the future, because I have good things to believe in.

“I was close to quitting tennis. I got frustrated at home and I didn’t watch tennis on TV because it was sad for me. It was close. But now, I have many good things to take from the tour. I would like to play tennis and that’s it.”

Still in the early stages of his comeback, highlighted by a run to the semi-finals on his return in Delray Beach (l. to Querrey), del Potro says he is far from his best form, citing his backhand as being some way off in Indian Wells. But the right-hander can count on the support of his family and legion of fans as he continues to make his way back.

Next up for del Potro will be the clay-court swing and his first appearance on the dirt in three years, since reaching the third round in Rome in 2013 (l. to Paire).

“I still feel young. I’m only 27 years old,” said del Potro. “If I’m healthy, I would like to play for more years. I just need to be healthy, to be strong. If I get that, I will enjoy the tennis life for more years.

“Social media was the key to keep close with my fans around the world. I posted all the time how my improvement was with my wrist. Now I have a few more posts and they’re all good news. That’s what they want to see and that’s what I want to post. If I can post all the time about playing tennis, it will be great for me.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be better than I was before,” admitted del Potro. “But I want to play tennis, stay healthy and the future will take care of itself. I’m still confident in my game and still looking forward to playing with the top guys in the same condition, not like [Indian Wells], when I couldn’t hit my backhand at 100 per cent. Maybe in the future I will get that chance.”