Bryans Dismiss Poles For Final Berth

© Getty ImagesBob and Mike Bryan closed in on their second title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

World No. 1 duo Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan reached the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final for the fourth time on Saturday as they defeated fifth-seeded Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-3, 6-4.

The Americans are chasing their second title at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and will face South Americans Juan Ignacio Chela and Bruno Soares in the final. The Bryans won the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court title in 2007 (d. Benneteau-Gasquet) and finished runners-up in 2005 (l. to Paes-Zimonjic) and 2009 (l. to Nestor-Zimonjic).

“It’s one of the best weeks of the year [playing at the Monte-Carlo Country Club],” declared Mike Bryan. “We’re happy to stick around for one extra day; it’s kind of like a vacation, a work vacation. We’re happy to be here.”

The Bryans broke decisively in the eighth game of the first set before Bob Bryan closed out the one-set lead with a strong service game. The twins then broke Fyrstenberg’s serve in the fifth game of the second set and, after missing a match point chance on the Poles’ serve in the ninth game, served out victory with a love service game by Bob Bryan after 61 minutes.

The Bryan brothers are chasing their second consecutive ATP World Tour title after opening their clay-court campaign last week with victory in Houston (d. Isner-Querrey). They opened the season with a runner-up finish in Sydney (l. to Dlouhy-Hanley) before clinching their 10th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (d. Bhupathi-Paes).

“We feel good on the clay so far this year,” said Mike Bryan. “Winning four matches really helped in Houston and we’re playing better and better as the tournament goes on. Today we played our best match; we’ve played those guys a lot of times and won a few big points. All in all it was a good performance.”

The unseeded duo of Chela and Soares extended their dream team debut by beating sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-7 in a late-finishing semi-final match on Court Central. The Argentine-Brazilian pairing did not relinquish the early lead they commanded in the Match Tie-break and sealed victory in 88 minutes.

The 31-year-old Chela is bidding for his fourth ATP World Tour doubles title and his first at Masters 1000 level, while the 29-year-old Soares is looking to win his third ATP World Tour title of the season after wins on clay at Costa do Sauipe and Santiago with Marcelo Melo.