Bryan brothers upset in first round of US Open

NEW YORK - The Bryan brothers aren't quite sure what to do with all the free time suddenly on their hands. The top-ranked Americans lost a first-round doubles match at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2001 Australian Open. Unseeded Ivo Karlovic and Frank Moser beat the twins 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Bob and Mike Bryan had won three of the last four major titles, tying the Open era record with their 11th Grand Slam championship earlier this summer at Wimbledon. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "We're used to being in the second week," Mike Bryan said. "It's going to be weird." They struggled against the 6-foot-10 Karlovic's powerful serve. "It was an awkward matchup," Mike said. "And we're never really playing our best tennis early in these Grand Slams." Bob will still play mixed doubles here with Liezel Huber as the two defend their title at Flushing Meadows. Mike's Open is over. Karlovic, who has been ranked as high as 14th in singles, leads the ATP Tour in several serve-related statistical categories. He wins 80 percent of points on his first serve and 91 percent of his service games and saves 72 percent of break points. The Croat is in the second round of the singles draw at the U.S. Open. Moser, a 34-year-old German, has never been ranked better than 288th in singles, and that was in 2003. His best doubles performance in a major tournament was twice reaching the second round at Wimbledon with different partners. "That was the match of his life," Bob Bryan said. ___ THE LONG ROAD BACK: His rankings and his prospects seemed unlimited when Alex Bogomolov Jr. scooted across the court, suddenly lost his balance and landed hard, shattering his left wrist and nearly destroying his promising tennis career in the process. Relgated to a life of teaching tennis instead of playing it, Bogomolov found the motivation he needed to return when his son was born two years ago. Now, he's rising once again — to 44th in the world and, this week, into the second round of the U.S. Open. Down two sets to his doubles partner, Steve Johnson of University of Southern California, Bogomolov rallied for a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory Wednesday. "I've had a great summer. I've had a great year," Bogomolov said. "To go down in the first round would have been devastating because we have higher goals. We worked for those goals." In addition to the injury, Bogomolov had to overcome the stigma and 45-day suspension resulting from a positive doping test — received for taking an asthma medicine before receiving proper clearance — and a divorce after his brief marriage to former junior star Ashley Harkleroad. He has since remarried and has a 2-year-old son, Maddox. He said his motivation since Maddox's birth is to stay in the sport long enough for his boy to see him play ... to see him play the way Bogomolov got to see his own father, Alex Sr., play back when he was a boy. Alex Sr. was a renowned coach in the former Soviet Union, who worked with Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andrei Medvedev, among others. The relationship with his father was "Everything. Everything. Everything," Alex Jr. said. They moved to the United States when Bogomolov was 11 and his tennis career took off. He beat Andy Roddick to win the USTA national boys 16-year-old championships and was ranked first in the 18s in 2000. He spent time ranked in and around the 100s for a lot of years. He was on the verge of a surge when the injury hit three years ago. After the injury and the surgery to repair his left wrist, Bogomolov couldn't hit his topspin backhand anymore. He was teaching tennis in the New York area, thinking that might be it. But he never put the idea of a comeback completely out of his mind. "It was basically, 'You're never going to be able to hit a two handed backhand,'" he said. "To learn a one-hander at 26, 27, come on, it was ridiculous. But as far as my mentality, I always thought that there was something undone." Robby Ginepri and teenager Jack Sock joined Bogomolov as U.S. winners Wednesday, with John Isner and Andy Roddick playing late matches. ___ DEL POTRO DEBUT: Juan Martin del Potro won the U.S. Open in 2009, and thinks maybe he can do it again. In 2012. The 18th-seeded Argentine played at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday for the first time since that championship. He missed most of last year because of right wrist surgery, preventing him from defending his title, and doesn't think he's quite playing at the level of the top players — yet. He looked like a former champion in his return, beating Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. "Has been a really sad year, 2010, for me," he said. "This year to be playing the U.S. Open, it's amazing. It's great, and I'm feeling really glad to see the crowd again, to see the Argentinian fans come to see me especially play here in the U.S. Open." Del Potro hopes that by this time next year, he'll be ready to compete for major titles again. He'll always have the memory of that first breakthrough. "To be honest, I feel like the final was yesterday, because when I was walking around the street or when I talk with the fans, they say, 'I remember your final. You can repeat; you can win again,'" he said. ___ AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed to this report.