Bryan brothers edge into last four

Number one seeds the Bryan brothers have made it through to the semi-finals of the men's Olympic doubles after they overcame Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel in straight sets at Wimbledon.

With neither pairing dropping serve, it took a narrow 7-4 win in the tie-break for the Americans to clinch the opening set against Wednesday's conquerors of defending champions Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.

The Bryans held serve to go 6-5 ahead in the second before the match was interrupted by a brief rain delay.

When play resumed, the Israelis held to force the second tie-break of the match.

However, the American pairing eventually came out 12-10 winners to seal a place in the last four.

The duo will meet either third seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic or Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet for a place in the final.