PARIS: Even the Bryan brothers could not overcome this French Open's unprecedented penchant for upsets in doubles.
The third-seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan lost in the second round at Roland Garros, beaten by Sam Groth of Australia and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Friday.
The Bryans have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles as a pair — including two at the French Open, in 2003 and 2013.
Their surprising exit came on the same day that Ryan Harrison of the U.S. and Michael Venus of New Zealand got past No. 4 seeds Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
That means the top four teams are all out of men's doubles already.
Earlier in the week, the top two pairings lost in the first round of the French Open for the first time in the Open era, which began in 1968.
No. 1 seeds Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia were beaten 7-6 (3), 6-3 by David Marrero and Tommy Robredo of Spain, while No. 2 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France were defeated 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-3 (2) by Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson of Australia.