Mike Bryan returns serve, while Bob Bryan guards the net.
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By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Going into Saturday's semifinal match against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, Ivo Karlovic of Croatia had yet to lose a serve all week at the Delray Beach Open. Karlovic was still perfect after dispatching Mannarino 6-4, 6-3.

Earlier in the day at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, unseeded American Donald Young overcame a shakey start to beat beat Bernard Tomic of Australia 4-6, 6- 4, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Karlovic and will play Sunday afternoon for the championship.

In the doubles play semifinals, Bob and Mike Bryan of the U.S. beat another American team, Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram, 4-6, 6-3(4), and Raven Klaasen and Leander Paes of India beat Tomic and Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-4, 6-4. The Bryans, the No. 1 seed in the Delray Beach tournament, will play Klaasen-Paes for the title at 1 p.m.

For Young, it will be only his second career finals. He played for the championship of the Bangkok tournament but lost to Andy Murray in 2011."He beat me pretty bad, quite quick." Young said. "I was just happy to get there, to be honest.

"I'm a little more mature. We'll see how it goes tomorrow."

Young said the slow start was caused in part by the gusty winds, which caused him to "recalibrate" his game. It didn't work so well in the first set, but the results showed in the second and third. And in part by an unusually long nap that put him in a "strange mood."

"Usually those days don't turn out well at all. I was happy i was able to regroup, refocus and come away with a win."

Tomic for his part had a simple explanation for the lose. "I didn't play good today, but it was tough to play good because of the wind.

On paper, at least, the match between Karlovic and Mannarino seemed evenly matched. Mannarino, after all, was the fifth seed, Karlovic was the fourth. But Mannarino never really challenged Karlovic in the first set. In the fifth game of the second set, Mannarino had two break points but couldn't convert. He had break point in the last game of the match, but Karlovic, appropriately enough, fired an ace to end the match.

During the first set of the doubles match between the Bryan Brothers and Butorac and Ram, Mike Bryan needed a medical timeout because of a sore back. He said he'll get some treatment before Sunday's match and will be ready to go. It will be the 155th tournament final of the Bryans' careers, the fifth at Delray Beach. They've won the tournament twice.

"We do play well on this court," Mike Bryan said. "It should be a tough match."

NOTES: Karlovic will be looking for his first ATP title of the year. He's been a finalist five times in his career, winning three, the last of which came in 2013 at Bogata. He was a finalist at Delray in 2010, losing to Ernests Gulbis. Karlovic and Young have met only one other time, that being a qualifier in Houston. Karlovic won the match 6-4, 6-4.

Sunday's Order of Play

— 1 p.m. No. 1 Seed Mike and Bob Bryan of the U.S. vs. No.. 2 see Raven Klaasen of the Republic of South Africa and Leander Paes of India.

— Not Before 3 p.m. Donald Young of the U.S. vs. No. 4 seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.


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DELRAY'S ONLINE BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER — PALM BEACH BUSINESS.COM
   
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FEBRUARY 22, 2015 click to go home
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The finals are set at the Delray Beach tennis tournament: Young vs. Karlovic, Bryan Brothers vs. Klaasen, Paes
KEEPING HIS EYES ON THE BALL ... Donald Young during Saturday's semifinal match against Bernard Tomic at the Delray Beach Open.
         
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