By Glenys Furness
- Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares secure first title
- Dan Evans qualifies for Australian Open Main Draw
Sydney, Australia – Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares celebrated their second tournament together by taking the trophy. With an impressive comeback in the tiebreak they clinched the match in straight sets. In Melbourne Dan Evans had to go the distance to earn a spot in the main draw.
After playing two matches in one day Murray & Soares had reached their first final together. Playing the fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna & Florin Mergea , the Brit/Brazilian pair took the first set against the seeds 6-3. The second set saw both pairings holding serve, Bopanna & Mergea had to fight hard to hold serve, as Murray & Soares manufactured more break points. Eventually the set landed in a tiebreak. The tide looked to have turned as the fourth seeds stormed ahead, the Brit/Brazilian pairing were two points away from losing the set. With the score at 5-0 to the seeds, Murray & Soares won the next four points, before losing serve again to be set point down at 6-4. Murray & Soares took the next four points to win the breaker 8-6 and claim their first title together.
Over in Melbourne and Evans looked to join the main draw for the Australian Open. As the last Brit standing in the qualifying rounds Evans faced the 14th seed Bjorn Fratangelo. Evans broke the seed, only to be broken back, however the Brit was determined and broke back again. Evans secured the set 7-5, the second set proved also to be a close affair with three breaks of serve. Fratangelo secured two of the three breaks, with the Brit only managing one of the three . This gave the American the set 6-4 and it was going the distance. The final set saw Evans streak ahead and broke the American three times. Fratangelo could do nothing on Evans serve in the final set, as the Brit served up a bagel to reach the main draw. This made a total of six Brits in the main draw.
The Australian Open starts on Monday at 11am (Midnight, GMT)
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