Mike Bryan’s Defeat Scrubs Family Reunion

Mike and Bob Bryan of Camarillo are identical twins who often possess identical thoughts and moods.

And despite opposite results Friday at the Easter Bowl National Junior Championships--Bob won and Mike lost in the semifinals of boys’ 18-and-under singles--they shared similar emotions.

The brothers were downcast and reflective.

They knew they had missed an opportunity to meet in the championship match of the largest junior invitational tournament in the United States.

“I wasn’t focused,” said Bob after he eliminated unseeded Brandon Hawk of Clyde, Texas, 6-4, 6-4, at the Riviera Resort & Country Club. “I was kind of into my brother’s match when I came onto the court. I could hear what was going on, and I could hear the score being called out.”

Bob, seeded fourth, had watched the first hour of Mike’s match against top-seeded Mike Russell before the start of his own match.

Russell, of Bloomfield, Mich., fought off three set points to beat Mike, seeded third, 6-4, 7-5.

Bob, who plays Russell today at 11:30 a.m., had a sense of what Mike was up against.

Call it twin intuition.

“I kind of feel how he’s going to play, and whether he’s going to win or lose,” Bob said. “It’s not telekinetic or anything like that. It’s because I know him so well.

Mike nearly won the second set. Serving at 40-15 with a 5-4 lead, he hit a passing shot that Russell called in but the line judge ruled out.

Mike then hit what looked like a cross-court winner, but Russell chased it down and hit a winner.

Mike eventually lost the match, but not his sense of humor.

“I would rather have played this game,” he said as he watched Bob battle unseeded Hawk. “Just the luck of the draw.”

Hawk in the round of 16 upset fifth-seeded Alex Kim, who is a member of the U.S. Junior National team, as are the Bryans. Hawk then gave Bob his toughest match of the tournament.

The Bryans weren’t completely disappointed, however. Seeded first in doubles, they defeated Dylan Mann of Canoga Park and Andrew Scortineau of Palm Springs, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to today’s 3:30 p.m. final against Alex Hur and Mitchell Koch.

Erin Boisclair of Agoura Hills and Stephanie Hazlett of Grandview, Ind. advanced to the girls’ 18 doubles finals, defeating Keiko Tokuda of Clifton, N.J. and Whitney Leiho of Middletown, R.I., 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. They face Diana Ospina and Brenda Vlasak in the title match at 3:30 p.m.