Arguably the most highly-anticipated doubles match of the year will take place on Sunday in Cincinnati. The final will be a rematch of the Wimbledon championship, featuring the Bryan brothers vs. Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock.
Who can stop “Popsocks”?
Count Bob and Mike Bryan among those who have tried and failed to defeat Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock during what has been a record-setting run for the latter duo. Pospisil and Sock have begun their partnership with a 14-0 mark that includes this summer’s Wimbledon title and also a triumph in Atlanta. They faced the Bryan brothers in the final at the All-England Club and pulled off a 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 upset.
But don’t call that result a fluke. Pospisil and Sock have already proven themselves against a whole host of elite competition. Of their 14 victories, eight have come against teams that are currently in the top 17 in the race to London (and the duo of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek would be higher if not for having played only eight tournaments this year). So far in Cincinnati, the American-Canadian pairing has taken out Paes/Stepanek, Qureshi/Bopanna, Peya/Soares, and Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin.
The Bryans have advanced with wins over Butorac/Klaasen, Rojer/Tecau, and Johnson/Querrey. Both teams have survived at least two super-tiebreakers this week (Pospisil and Sock have prevailed in that fashion three times). The Bryan brothers are 44-10 this season, with five titles–including in Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte-Carlo.
“It’s never an easy or comfortable match playing the Bryans,” said Sock. “(But) Vasek and I have a lot of confidence right now. We’re both going to go out and enjoy it. It’s always fun playing the best team of all time. Hopefully we can produce more good tennis.”
There is no doubt they will; the question is will it be good enough to beat the No. 1 team in the world for the second time in as many attempts. The Bryans lost early in Washington, D.C. and Toronto, so they are not in peak form at the moment. Still, fast conditions in Cincinnati should be advantageous to them even though Pospisil and Sock also like speed. In neutral rallies, the two traditional singles players thrive when they have time to set up and bludgeon groundstrokes at the net men. Bob and Mike Bryan should be able to take that away, at least in part. The bottom line is this could obviously go either way; the only guarantee is that a packed house of entertained fans will be on hand.
Pick: Bryan and Bryan in 3
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10-7 in the breaker
I just checked the ESPN3 schedule and it doesn’t show that the doubles match will be streamed. How is that even possible? I also checked next week’s Tennis Channel schedule for possible replays and there’s nothing there either. I’m hoping that ESPN decides to stream it at the last minute. No need for any commentary, just get a few cameras out on the court.
it’s also on the Grandstand, not Stadium. #Criminal
Somebody needs to show this match…it will be awesome…and I’m taking the Bryans in straight!!!