World number one doubles players Bob and Mike Bryan made their earliest exit from the Australian Open in the past 11 years after the brothers lost to newly-formed team Eric Butorac of United States and Raven Klaasen of South Africa in the third round of men’s doubles competition 7-6, 6-4. The Bryans are the defending champions of the men’s doubles event.
The Bryan brothers are touted as the most successful doubles team in the Open Era – having won 15 Grand Slam titles, six of them here in Melbourne. They’ve reached the Australian Open final nine times in the past ten years.
Butorac and Klaasen only teamed up four months ago and won their first tournament as a team at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur back in September.
