Nestor, Knowles ousted from Australian Open

Last Updated: Thursday, January 25, 2007 | 10:20 PM ET

CBC Sports

Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Bahamian doubles partner Mark Knowles were bounced from the Australian Open on Thursday.

Nestor and Knowles fell 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to the top-ranked American tandem of Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinals at Melbourne Park.

Mike Bryan hits a winner against Mark Knowles, left, and Daniel Nestor.
(Aaron Francis/Getty Images)

The Bryans are the defending champions; Nestor and Knowles, seeded third, won the title in 2002 and lost the final in 2003.

Nestor and Knowles broke the twin brothers twice to claim the opening set, but faltered slightly in the second and the third.

"After the first set, we felt good," Nestor said. "But it seemed like they upped their play from early in the second set to early in the third."

The Bryans broke Knowles to go ahead 5-3 in the second and held serve to even the match, then broke Nestor early in the third on a controversial line call upheld by chair umpire Andreas Egli.

"They just started making every return, no matter what the serve," Nestor said.

Nestor and Knowles broke back to knot it at 5-5, but the Bryans did likewise to Knowles and held serve to clinch the win.

"They are the best team in the world, so they were the favourites," Nestor said. "It's not like we played bad.

"They deserved to win, they're a tough team to play. They serve well and have a lot of firepower."

The Bryans will face Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman and partner Max Mirnyi of Russia in the final.

Bjorkman and Mirnyi defeated Australia's Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 2-6 7-5 7-6 (8) in the other semifinal.