Mike Bryan carries on in doubles
With brother sidelined, specialist pairs with Sock to earn chance at crown
LONDON— Mike Bryan is headed to the men’s doubles final at Wimbledon, and that’s pretty familiar. But he’s done it in an unfamiliar way this year — without twin brother Bob, whos sidelined because of a hip injury.
Instead, Mike is playing with fellow American Jack Sock, and the two defeated Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor, 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (11), 6-7 (6), 6-4, in the semifinals.
The Bryan twins, who attended Rio Mesa High in Oxnard and played at Stanford, won Wimbledon titles in 2006, 2011 and 2013.
Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen reached the final with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Frederik Nielsen and Joe Salisbury. No regrets: Two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray, who did not participate this year because of a hip injury, said in his regular BBC Sport column that, although he Mike Bryan, right, and Jack Sock celebrate after defeating Dominic Inglot of Great Britain and Franko Skugor of Croatia during their men's doubles semifinal match Thursday. misses playing, he simply wasn’t ready to return.
“Last year I came in when the hip was bad, managed to get through to the quarterfinals but ended up missing a whole year because of it,” he wrote in a column released this week.
“I didn’t want to go in this year, potentially play four or five matches, and do any damage.
“Obviously I was very disappointed I wasn’t able to play, but I wasn’t going to win the tournament and I wasn’t well enough prepared. “It was a hard decision but a smart one.” Murray, who underwent hip surgery and has played only three matches since last July, plans to return at the end of the month for the Citi Open in Washington. Sharp tongue: British doubles player Heather Watson was penalized a point, allegedly for swearing during a match. She had been warned earlier for hitting a ball off the court in frustration.
Watson, who with partner Tatjana Maria lost their quarterfinal match, argued she didn’t use vulgar language and criticized the line judge who made the claim.
“I asked everybody behind me out loud, ‘What did you hear me say?’” she told the BBC. “And everybody said, ‘Stupid.’
“I just think it’s really pathetic. It’s like there is no point in it. You have got people in all different languages swearing constantly all the time.
“I just said ‘stupid,’ nobody heard anything else and I just think it is really bad.
“It’s literally like a snitch running to the front of the class saying, ‘I heard her say this!’ I think it is so stupid. It is. I can’t even explain.”