French team defends men's doubles title

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- France's Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro won their second straight Australian Open men's doubles title on Saturday, beating twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan of the United States 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Llodra and Santoro won their 50th match together when they beat Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez of Argentina in the semifinals. They first teamed at the 2002 Australian Open, when they lost in the final.

The 25-year-old Bryan brothers won the 2003 French Open title in their 21st major together and were seeded No. 1. It was the third time they have advanced to the final in the last four Grand Slam tournaments.

The Bryans were down a break at 5-6 in the first set but broke Santoro's serve to send the opener to a tiebreaker. The French team took the first set on a hard overhead smash by Llodra that went between the Bryans.

In the second, the French side closed out the match when Santoro held his serve. Llodra and Santoro raised their arms triumphantly when Bob Bryan's forehand from the back of the court went wide.

The match was a replay of the Masters Cup final in Houston after the Bryans took over the No. 1 ranking. They beat Llodra and Santoro in five sets in the final after defeating the French pair in the round-robin portion of the tournament.

The Bryan brothers will represent the United States in next week's first-round World Group match against Austria in Connecticut.

Llodra and Santoro have teamed three times to represent France in the Davis Cup, with a record of 2-1. Although Llodra is on the team to play Croatia in Metz next weekend, Santoro has been dropped from the French team for the first time since 2000.

Santoro was fined $1,500 last week for spitting in the direction of a line official during his second-round loss to Australian Mark Philippoussis.