Top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated rivals Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 Saturday evening in Melbourne to win their fourth Australian Open doubles crown.

The Americans successfully defended their title at Melbourne Park, having beaten Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles in the final last year, and also lifted the trophy in 2006 (d. Paes-Damm) and 2007 (d. Bjorkman-Mirnyi).

In the teams’ 12th meeting, the Bryans looked to overturn a five-match losing streak against their Canadian-Serbian opposition and made the perfect start as they raced to a 5-2 lead before closing out the first set 6-3.

Second seeds Nestor and Zimonjic quickly opened up a 3-1 lead in the second set, but it was an advantage they were to relinquish immediately and the match appeared to be slipping away from them in straight sets as they went on to trail 2-5 in the tie-break. The 2009 Wimbledon champions hit back, though, and levelled the match as they won the tie-break 7-5.

Undeterred by the loss of the second set, the Bryans broke serve to lead 3-1 in the deciding set and went on to close out the victory 6-3, reducing the deficit in their head-to-head standing with Nestor and Zimonjic to 8-4. 

The Bryans and Nestor and Zimonjic have formed a riveting rivalry since their first meeting at the 2007 BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (Bercy). Nestor and Zimonjic were victorious in the final of the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup, a winner-take-all finale that saw the Canadian-Serbian duo also crowned ATP World Tour Champions, and held the Bryans’ number once more in the 2009 Wimbledon final.

Nestor and Zimonjic were contesting their fourth Grand Slam final together since reuniting for a long-term partnership at the end of 2007. They won consecutive Wimbledon titles in 2008 (d. Bjorkman-Ullyett) and 2009 and finished runners-up at Roland Garros in 2008 (l. to Cuevas-Horna).

The 37-year-old Nestor was appearing in his fourth Australian Open final; he won the title in 2002 (d. Llodra-Santoro) with former long-time partner Mark Knowles and the pair also finished runner-up in 1995 and 2003. The 33-year-old Zimonjic was contesting his first Australian Open final

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