US twin brothers Mike and Bob Bryan successfully defended their Miami Open title by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Wesley Koolhof 7-5 7-6 (10-8) after 1 hour and 36 minutes in the doubles final.
Third seeds Mike and Bob Bryan fended off four set points in the tie-break of the second set to clinch their sixth career title in Miami.
The US doubles legends lifted their 39th Masters 1000 title and their 118th career title as a team. Bob Bryan made a successful come-back from a long injury lay-off of eighth months. Last August he underwent hip replacement surgery last August. Mke teamed up with his compatriot Jack Sock in the second half of last season winning Wimbledon, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals in London. Last February they won their first title since Bob’s come-back in Delray Beach.
The Bryan twins won 86 % of their first serve points and converted just one of their eleven break point chances. They saved all four break point chances they faced.
The Bryans lost just six points on serve in the first set. Koolhof and Tsitsipas saved a total of six break points before the Bryan brothers earned their first break in the 11th game on their seventh break point chance to take a 6-5 lead in the opening set, as Koolhof was serving at 5-5. The Bryans served out for the first set easily in the 12th game.
The second set went on serve with no breaks of serve. Each team did not convert any of their break points. In the tie-break Koolhof played the point of the match when he hit a tweener in the sixth game of the second set. Koolhof and Tsitsipas went up a 6-3 lead, but they failed to convert three set points. They saved a championship point at 7-8, before the Bryan twins converted their second chance to close out the match after 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Mike and Bob did not have an easy path to the final. They beat Franko Skugor and Nicolas Jarry in the second round and saved four match points in their semifinal win against Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.
“Bob has been through a lot on the couch. To have him back at full strength and winning here in Miami in our hometown, with all the friends and family support is unreal. This is a special event for us and to defend it is amazing”,said Mike Bryan.
