Latvians beat Alison/Bruno and Lucena/Dalhausser on Huntington Beach

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Samoilovs/Smedins celebrate bronze in Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale Major bronze medalists Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins were the heroes on day four of competition at Huntington Beach as the Latvians beat Olympic champions Alison/Bruno and American favorites Lucena/Dalhausser.

The Europeans were in brilliant form as they came from behind to dispatch Brazilians Cerutti and Schmidt in three sets, before securing a stylish straight sets win on the center court against Nick and Phil. That was revenge for Aleksandrs and Janis after they’d lost their semifinal against the Americans in Florida in February.

It was also a good day for world champions Evandro Gonçalves and Andre Loyola. The Brazilians registered two victories from their two matches, seeing off the challenge of Norway’s Mol/Sørum and Evandro’s former partner Pedro Solberg and George Wanderley.

Despite Lucena and Dalhausser’s defeat, American fans still had plenty to cheer. Evergreen John Hyden and teammate Theo Brunner also won both matches, beating Austria’s Clemens Doppler and Alex Horst and Rossi/Caminati of Italy with home victories in straight sets.

For the those who tasted defeat in the winner’s bracket, there comes one last chance to stay in the tournament and Lucena/Dalhausser will be hoping for better luck when they take on Latvia’s Plavins/Tocs on Saturday.