By Christopher Lancette
 Zimonjic (left) and Llodra (right) celebrate victory. |
MONTREAL – Michael Llodra of France and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia learned something from their previous two losses to the vaunted Bryan Brothers — putting that education to use today and walked away with a 6-4, 6-7, 10-5 Rogers Cup championship.
“I thought that we played really well as a team, which is very important against such a team like the Bryans because you cannot win only by individual skills,” said Zimonjic, who also partnered with Llodra for a title at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. last week. “They’re great competitors. They have great hands. They help each other a lot. That’s what we had to do today. I think that’s what made the difference compared to the other two matches.”
Though light years away from the more than 700 victories (including 73 ATP doubles titles) the Bryans have amassed, the Rogers Cup championship does make a great addition to Llodra’s and Zimonjic’s resumes: The 1,000-level event compliments three Grand Slam titles they each own.
Llodra/Zimonjic broke the Rogers Cup defending champions in the first set and won it, then went for a seesaw ride in the second. Both teams made flashy plays and struck brilliant winners. At 3-3 in the second, Bob Bryan went airborne and hit an overhead smash winner. Zimonjic responded on the next point with a sharply angled forehand cross-court winner and then ripped a forehand winner up the line on the next shot. The Bryans came back to win that game and traded the next few service games with Llodra/Zimonjic.
Anxiety entered the Bryan brothers camp at 5-5 in the second set when their opponents forced a deciding point. Mike Bryan responded with a service winner. Llodra/Zimonjic knotted the score at 6-all on their serve but fell short 5-7 in the tiebreaker.
The match turned in an instant in the proceeding 10-point tiebreaker. Up 3-2 but facing the Bryans’ serve, Llodra/Zimonjic punished a floating groundstroke from the Bryans with an easy volley winner. They cruised on to the 10-5 finale from there.
“I think all four players today … you could see how quick reactions were on the court,” Zimonjic said. “Small mistakes are getting punished right away. They were not easy put‑aways. Especially when the two guys are at the net, it’s difficult to win the point. “We proved today that we could stay with them with the same intensity and same quality at the net and the back of the court.”
Check out WTM’s new “The Changeover” interview with the Bryan Brothers.
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Photo credit © Won-ok Kim
