Bryans Begin Record-Breaking Bid

© Getty ImagesBob and Mike Bryan are five-time champions in L.A.

Top seeds and defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan opened their pursuit of a record-breaking 62nd team title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mardy Fish and Mark Knowles on Wednesday evening at their hometown tournament, the Farmers Classic.

The Bryans tied Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde’s Open Era record of team titles after defeating rivals Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open final this past May – their fifth triumph of the 2010 season.

The 32-year-old American twins, natives of Camarillo, are attempting to reach their 100th doubles final together this week. They made their Los Angeles debut in 1996, and won their first of five titles at this ATP World Tour 250 hard-court tournament in 2001.

Second seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau continued their hot streak, defeating Andre Sa and Horacio Zeballos 7-6(2), 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Swedish-Romanian duo, who first teamed up this past March in Miami, has reached the final in their past three tournaments; they won the ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Bastad titles and in between turned in a runner-up finish at Wimbledon (l. to Melzer/Petzschner).

Fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi also advanced, as they prevailed against Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski 6-7(3), 6-0, 10-7.

Top seeds Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman hit eight aces and did not face a break point to knock out Frederico Gil and Florent Serra 6-4, 6-3 in 61 minutes on Wednesday at the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad. Moodie and Norman have now reached four tour-level semi-finals this year, highlighted by runs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Earlier in the day, fourth seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares recorded their 20^th win of the season by beating Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1, 7-6(5) in just 60 minutes. The Brazilians have a 1-1 record in ATP World Tour finals this year, having lifted the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur trophy (d. Bopanna-Qureshi) in May.

At the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag, top seeds and Wimbledon champions Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner scraped past Fabio Fognini and Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 in 77 minutes.