Bopanna/Mergea stun Bryan brothers in Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
Bottom seeded Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea stunned their top seeded opponents Bob and Mike Bryan in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to win their opening match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2015 in Paris on Sunday.
The Bryans drew first blood scoring 1-0, holding serve for the first point of the match and further managed to break serve to lead 2-0. The remainder of the set, however, saw a series of breaks where both teams traded five service breaks by the end of which Bopanna and Mergea emerged on top to reach 4-3. The Indo-Romanian pair then snapped the streak of service breaks by saving three break points to hold serve and gain a 5-3 lead. The pair served the first set out at 6-4.
Bopanna and Mergea earned a crucial break in the opening game of the second set and never looked back as they went on to lead 5-3 without losing serve from here on. The pair closed out the match by breaking the Bryans again at this juncture to win 6-3 within a span of exactly 60 minutes.
With the win, Bopanna and Mergea lead the head-to-head record 2-1 against the Bryans for the calendar year.
Bopanna/Mergea now hold the joint lead at the top of the Group Ashe/Smith tables along with Jamie Murray and John Peers. The pair play their next fixture on Tuesday.