Mike and Bob Bryan set to reunite for doubles in NZ

AUCKLAND: Mike and Bob Bryan are set to reunite as a doubles combination next month in New Zealand when the brothers begin their 21st season on the ATP Tour.

Bob Bryan has been sidelined since injuring his hip in the lead-up to the French Open, and Mike paired with fellow American Jack Sock to win the Wimbledon and US Open titles and the ATP Finals, taking the world No. 1 ranking on his own.

With Bob back to full fitness, the 40-year-old twins will reunite for the ASB Classic hardcourt tournament in Auckland before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open.

The Bryan brothers have won 114 doubles titles together, more than any other pairing, and have held the No. 1 doubles ranking jointly for 438 weeks. They have won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles together and a further 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles between them, adding an Olympic gold medal in 2012.

But they have yet to win a match in Auckland.

“We are stoked to be coming back to Auckland,” the brothers said in a joint statement.

“We’ve got a bit of a point to prove. We’ve won 114 titles together but are yet to get the W in Auckland. We’ve got to change that. Here’s hoping 2019 can be our year.” — AP

RESULTS WORLDWIDE BASKETBALL

NBA CHAMPIONSHIP

New Orleans 116 Detroit 108, Milwaukee 104 Toronto 99, San Antonio 110 Utah 97, Charlotte 119 New York 107.

SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN

Leading final round scores (Rsa unless stated): 266: Louis Oosthuizen 62-70-67-67; 272: Romain Langasque (Fra) 69-68-69-66; 274: Thomas Aiken 67-68-72-67, Bruce Easton 68-69-71-66, Charl Schwartzel 67-63-72-72, Oliver Wilson (Bri) 73-66-68-67; 275: Yikeun Chang (Kor) 70-65-72-68, Branden Grace 66-68-71-70, Jbe Kruger 66-67-72-70, Anthony Michael 67-71-69-68, Madalitso Muthiya (Zam) 63-68-71-73, Haydn Porteous 68-70-6869, Brandon Stone 71-67-71-66, Jeff Winther (Den) 68-6968-70; 276: Ernie Els 66-71-68-71, Robert McIntyre (Sco) 70-67-68-71, Kurt Kitayama (US) 63-69-74-70, Zander Lombard 64-68-74-70, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 69-69-68-70, Matt Wallace (Bri) 65-69-68-74.