American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan hit top gear ahead of the Olympic Games as they came from behind to post a 4-6, 7-6 (2) and 10-7 victory over Israel's Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in Cincinnati Masters event on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Bryan twins have won titles this season at ATP Masters Series events in Miami and Rome and in Barcelona.
"It's a huge confidence boost and it's our first title in a few months," Mike Bryan told the ATP official website. "In this tournament I think we played extremely well. We're going into the Olympics playing, I think the match is the best test we have all year.
"To beat a great team like Andy and Jonathan who have had a tremendous year, it bodes well. I mean, a huge goal of ours is to have a good performance at the Olympics. We've been looking forward to it all year. We're going to take a week off and then give it our best shot."
After saving a match point in Saturday's semifinal win, the Bryans found themselves trailing in the final by a set and 0-2 before charging back.
Mike Bryan lost his serve in the fifth game of the opening set and Bob Bryan was broken in the opening game of the second set.
But Ram double-faulted in the fourth game to level the match at 2-2. The Bryans dominated the tie-break, jumping out to a 5-1 lead before prevailing 7-2.
In the match tie-break, both teams held for the first seven points before Erlich double-faulted and Ram hit a volley long to give the Bryans a 6-3 advantage.
The Israelis cut the lead to 8-6 but the Bryans went on to secure the victory in one hour and 32 minutes.
By winning this match, the American players also improved their match record to 50-13, marking the seventh straight year they have posted at least 50 wins. They remain No. 2 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race.
Erlich and Ram, who are 13-12 lifetime together in ATP finals, are 27-14 on the season. The duo, who clinched their maiden Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open in January, also used the event as warm-up for the Olympics.
"We didn't have for like two, three months a good week where we feel that we really play good. I think we're back on track and we're back in business, and we're very happy about it," said Erlich.
"We gain a lot confidence, especially here for the Olympics and then for the US Open, one thing that was very important for us.
"Unfortunately today in the clutch time I think the Bryans were a little bit better than us and we couldn't close the deal in the second set. But overall I'm very happy the way that we performed and get into good shape, and that's what matters."
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)