Bryan brothers on course for No.1 spot at Tour Finals

Brothers Bob (R) and Mike Bryan of U.S. react during their Davis Cup quarterfinal doubles tennis match against Roko Karanusic and Lovro Zovko of Croatia in the Adriatic port of Porec in this July 11, 2009 file photo.

LONDON (Reuters) - Twice former champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan hit form at the right moment on Friday to ease into the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals.

The American twins beat Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach 6-3 6-4 to record the victory they needed and send the Polish/Austrian duo home by virtue of a better sets ratio after both pairs ended with two wins.

Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram topped Group B after a straight-sets win over Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes.

"We played a good match," Mike Bryan told reporters. "Those guys are good. They played us tough last time. They were up 6-0, 2-0 last time we played them.

"We knew to expect a tough match. I thought we played our best match of the tournament, did everything really well."

The Bryans face India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas in the semi-final on Saturday, the pair they beat to win this year's Australian Open final.

Should the Americans win that and Sunday's final they would end the year as the world's top-ranked team.

"Right now we're just trying to win the tournament. You know, we are gritting our teeth a little more out there. But you throw number one on top, it's extra motivation to push on every point," said Bob Bryan.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Alison Wildey)