Marrero and Verdasco Deny the Bryans 2013 World Tour Doubles Title
November 12, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal
The duo David Marrero & Fernando Verdasco became the third all-Spanish team to lift the doubles title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, defeating Americans Bob & Mike Bryan 7-5, 6-7(3), 10-7 at The O2 in London. Marrero & Verdasco shared $335,500 in prize money and 1,300 Emirates ATP Rankings points, while the, five-time finalists at the ATP World Tour Finals, split $195,500 and 800 points. Marrero & Verdasco went 4-1 in matches this week, suffering their only loss to second seeds Alexander Peya & Bruno Soares 6-3, 7-5 in round robin play. The Spanish duo completes their 2013 season with a 37-18 record, which includes one title – their fifth overall – at the St. Petersburg Open last month.
"It's going to be tough to better this year–11 titles: We won five Masters Series and three Grand Slams," said Mike Bryan. "We'll take a year like this every year. We can improve things. We're always finding new things to work on. We like to keep raising our level as we get older. We'll have the 100 title mark on the horizon. We'd love to shoot that down next year."
The Bryans, who have finished as the year-end number one duo in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings for the ninth time in the past 11 years, closed out 2013 with a 70-13 match record. With the loss, the Bryans dropped to a 29-17 record at the season finale, which includes title runs in 2003, 2004 and 2009, and they also reached the 2008 finals but finished runner-up.
