TENNIS WORLD

Top seeds and two-time Rogers Cup champions Bob and Mike Bryan opened their title campaign in Toronto by defeating Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco (pictured) 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. Lopez and Verdasco had advanced to the second round after dismissing Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-2, 7-6(7) earlier Thursday.
The 30-year-old Bryans improve to a 15-5 event record with their win over the Spaniards. They captured their two Toronto titles in 2002 (d. Knowles/Nestor) and '06 (d. Hanley/Ullyett).
They next face Croat Mario Ancic and South African Jeff Coetzee, who reached the quarterfinals with back-to-back wins Thursday. They needed 54 minutes to get by Fernando Gonzalez and Andre Sa 6-3, 6-2 in their first round match, and then ousted Czech No. 8 seeds Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner 6-4, 6-3. Vizner won the Canada title last year with Indian Mahesh Bhupathi.
Australians Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr also put together consecutive match wins to reach the Rogers Cup quarterfinals. They opened the day with a 6-3, 7-5 win over the wild card Canadian-American team of Frank Dancevic and Jesse Levine, then followed with a 6-3, 6-2 upset of Israeli No. 3 seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
Hanley and Kerr will look to reach the semifinals when they confront No. 5 seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett, who will be making their first appearance since reaching the Wimbledon final. Bjorkman and Ullyett advanced when Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko withdrew prior to the match due to Andreev's ankle injury.
Paul-Henri Mathieu and Mikhail Youzhny made their way safely into the quarterfinals and held a one set lead against the No. 6 seeds when Julian Knowle's stomach injury forced him and partner Simon Aspelin to retire from the match.
They next face Stanford ATP Doubles Race leaders and No. 2 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, who overcame a challenging first set against Brits Andy and Jamie Murray to win 7-6(3), 6-4. The Canadian-Serbian duo has reached the final in their last five tournaments, and are making their first appearance since clinching the Wimbledon title.
Seventh seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes dismissed the Swiss duo of Top 10 singles players Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4 in just under an hour. They next face No. 4 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles.