WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Win Titles in Rome

Published on May 19, 2016 under World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The Bryan Brothers claimed their 112th title in Rome last week. Click the image for highlights. Photo: ATPWorldTour.com

Bob and Mike Bryan came back from a set down in the men's doubles final to defeat Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the finals of the BNL D'Italia in Rome, claiming their 112th title, the most in tennis history. The Bryans victory culminated a historic performance by the Kastles at the prestigious Masters 1000 tournament, with Kastles veteran Martina Hingis and her partner Sania Mirza also taking the trophy in women's doubles.

The Bryan Brothers grinded through a tough draw to make the final, defeating fellow Kastle Sam Querrey and his partner Steve Johnson in the second round, before dispatching Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the quarterfinals. Bob and Mike made the final by ousting the French team of Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-7, 6-2, 10-7.

In the final, the brothers once again were forced to come back from a one-set deficit. After Pospisil and Sock won the first set, the match was suspended due to rain.

"The rain delay definitely helped us," Mike Bryan told ATPWorldTour.com. "Our coach [David Macpherson] was back in the locker room, where we had about 15 minutes, and he said, 'Fire it up!' We were kind of flat in the first set and weren't playing with a lot of energy."

The brothers came back from the rain delay firing, grabbing a 5-1 lead in the second set before evening the match at one set apiece. The duo continued their strong play into the match tiebreak, winning the first 5 points of the tiebreaker before holding off a late surge from Sock and Pospisil to win 10-7.

After failing to break Pospisil and Sock in the first set, the Bryans won both break points in the second set. The final marked the third time in four matches that Bob and Mike had to come back after losing the first set.

The victory was the Bryans' third clay court title of the season, after winning titles in Houston and Barcelona. It also marked the fourth time the duo has won the title in Rome.

"We're very hungry. It's been a quiet six months," Bob Bryan told ATPWorldTour.com. "This year, we've won a 250 [Houston], 500 [Barcelona] and now a Masters 1000. The next step is a Slam."

Rome was the Bryans' final tune-up before the French Open, which starts on May 22nd.

On the women's side, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their first clay court title of the season with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-3 win over the Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Hingis and Mirza got back onto the champions podium after falling in their last two finals, first in Stuggart then in Madrid.

Hingis and Mirza rolled through the early rounds of Rome in supreme fashion, not dropping a set until they met Makarova and Vesnina in the final.

Makarova and Vesnina are familiar foes of Hingis and Mirza, with their last meeting being a battle for the Wimbledon Championship in 2015 in which Hingis and Mirza prevailed 5-7, 7-6, 7-5. Under-seeded because of an injury to Vesnina, the final in Rome was the first between the two teams since their battle at the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club last year.

In the final Hingis and Mirza got off to a fast start, breaking twice in the first set to win 6-1. The duo continued their momentum in the second set, breaking to go up 5-3, but Makarova and Vesnina returned the favor, breaking Hingis and Mirza twice to level the set and eventually win in a tiebreaker. Hingis and Mirza responded strongly in the match tiebreaker, dominating the Russians 10-3.

As the world's #1 ranked women's doubles team, Hingis and Mirza will be the top seed at the French Open next week, where they hope to win the only slam they have not won as a team (Hingis won the doubles title at Roland Garros in 1998 and 2000). With a win at the French Open they would complete the "Santina Slam," as the duo currently holds three of the four major trophies (2015 Wimbledon, 2015 US Open, 2016 Australian Open).

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