Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan twice were in serious danger today of early elimination from the Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals in London.
But the 36-year-old identical twins and former Stanford All-Americans showed the mental toughness that has helped carry them to a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles.
The Bryans pulled out a 6-7 (4), 6-3 [10-6] round-robin victory over fifth-seeded Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania.
The Bryans trailed 3-1 in the second set and 4-0 in the match tiebreaker. But they improved to 4-0 against Rojer and Tecau, who have won eight titles in their first season as a team.
Now 1-1 in the tournament, the Bryans will play their last round-robin match on Friday against third-seeded Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil.
The Bryans are trying to win the season-ending tournament for the fourth time and earn their 10th title of the year.
Veteran journalist Paul Bauman, based in Sacramento, covers Northern California professional, collegiate and junior tennis. Contact him at norcaltennisczar@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @norcaltenczar.
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