Noah Browne and Micah Franklin “left it all on the court” during their defeat to the United States in the quarter-finals of men’s doubles at the Pan American Games yesterday.

The Bermuda pair showed plenty of fighting spirit but were unable to pull off the upset they desired, losing 11-6, 11-7 to the US’s Chris Hanson and Todd Harrity at the Videna Sports Complex in San Luis.

Browne and Franklin, who beat Pizarro Camiruaga and Arias Pinto, of Chile, 11-9, 7-11, 2-11 in the first round on Thursday, will now turn there attentions to the team event, along with Nick Kyme, which starts tomorrow.

“It was always going to be an uphill battle [against the US], Browne said. “This tournament takes its toll on you for sure. Micah was feeling it in the body today, which never makes it easy, and I was suffering from a bit of sickness.

“On top of that, the US are a great team and it was always going to be tough. I think we gave it the best shot we had.”

Browne, who teamed up with Franklin to win a bronze medal in the doubles at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Cali, Colombia, last summer, said the left-handed guile of Hanson also proved challenging.

“There had a lefty on their team and that’s always a handful,” he said.

“Chris was able to use his forehand against Micah’s backhand, which is a huge advantage. They used that quite well.”

Franklin, who lost in the second round of the singles to Martinez Salazar, of Mexico, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, on Thursday, said he had no complaints with the manner of their doubles defeat.

“Some of the top nations are here and we did our best,” he said. “We always leave it all out there as much as we can. Maybe if we were 100 per cent fit we could have took it a little bit further. They played well, though, and the best team won.

“Whoever we played in the quarter-finals was going to be tough. You’re going to face a big nation eventually.”

The combination of Browne’s forehand and Franklin’s backhand worked well as times for Bermuda, who rallied from 10-4 down to make it 10-7 in the second game to stave off the inevitable for as long as possible.

“The first time [we used that combination] was at the CAC Games and it just kind of worked,” Franklin said. “I do think we make a good doubles pairing and it helps with Noah’s reach as he can cover the middle better than I can.

“Noah can get stuff hit down the middle faster than I can. If we swapped it would be a bit more challenging for me.”

Browne added: “Part of it also has to do with Micah being a bit more steady than me with the backhand while I go for the winners with the forehand. I think we’re just playing to each other’s strengths.”

Bermuda will face Brazil and Colombia in pool B of the team event. They earned the twelfth and final qualifying berth at the CAC Games with a win over the British Virgin Islands.

“We came into this as the last qualifier so it’s going to be difficult,” Browne said. “We’re playing two good teams.

“We’re looking to sneak a result and we’ll be putting everything into it to make it happen.”

Franklin added: “A top eight would be a dream, so we will be shooting for that.”