Special report: 2008 Olympic
Games
BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- American brothers Bob and Mike
Bryan hit top gear ahead of the Olympic Games as they came from behind to post a
4-6, 7-6 (2) and 10-7 victory over Israel's Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in
Cincinnati Masters event on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Bryan twins have won titles this
season at ATP Masters Series events in Miami and Rome and in Barcelona.
"It's a huge confidence boost and it's our first
title in a few months," Mike Bryan told the ATP official website. "In this
tournament I think we played extremely well. We're going into the Olympics
playing, I think the match is the best test we have all year.
"To beat a great team like Andy and Jonathan who have
had a tremendous year, it bodes well. I mean, a huge goal of ours is to have a
good performance at the Olympics. We've been looking forward to it all year.
We're going to take a week off and then give it our best shot."
After saving a match point in Saturday's semifinal
win, the Bryans found themselves trailing in the final by a set and 0-2 before
charging back.
Mike Bryan lost his serve in the fifth game of the
opening set and Bob Bryan was broken in the opening game of the second set.
But Ram double-faulted in the fourth game to level
the match at 2-2. The Bryans dominated the tie-break, jumping out to a 5-1 lead
before prevailing 7-2.
In the match tie-break, both teams held for the first
seven points before Erlich double-faulted and Ram hit a volley long to give the
Bryans a 6-3 advantage.
The Israelis cut the lead to 8-6 but the Bryans went
on to secure the victory in one hour and 32 minutes.
By winning this match, the American players also
improved their match record to 50-13, marking the seventh straight year they
have posted at least 50 wins. They remain No. 2 in the Stanford ATP Doubles
Race.
Erlich and Ram, who are 13-12 lifetime together in
ATP finals, are 27-14 on the season. The duo, who clinched their maiden Grand
Slam crown at the Australian Open in January, also used the event as warm-up for
the Olympics.
"We didn't have for like two, three months a good
week where we feel that we really play good. I think we're back on track and
we're back in business, and we're very happy about it," said Erlich.
"We gain a lot confidence, especially here for the
Olympics and then for the US Open, one thing that was very important for us.
"Unfortunately today in the clutch time I think the
Bryans were a little bit better than us and we couldn't close the deal in the
second set. But overall I'm very happy the way that we performed and get into
good shape, and that's what matters."