Tennis’ Bryan Brothers ‘Unleash the Beast’ at Australian Open

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2012

Tennis’ Bryan Brothers ‘Unleash the Beast’ at Australian Open

Mike Bryan (R) and Bob Bryan of USA in action during their men's doubles third round match against Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming of Britain at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2012. EPA/MAST IRHAM |

After years of testing and denying dozens of other polyester strings, current No. 1 ranked doubles champions, Mike and Bob Bryan, cite “more pop, ultimate feel and hands-down a better string,” as the reasons they have converted to the new Prince Beast XP thermo-polyester string starting at this year’s Australian Open.

Fans watching the first Grand Slam tennis event of 2012 will see the twins not only with a new, bright yellow Prince EXO3 Rebel racquet, but also with the identifiable Prince green Beast string to maximize performance.

“We are constantly approached to try different strings, but it has to be something very special for us to even consider it and something truly extraordinary for us to convert,” said Bob Bryan. “The fact is, this is the first time in years we have changed string, because Beast is that good.”

It is very feasible that Bob makes a switch to a new product, and I do not,” added Mike Bryan. “That is always a possibility. But, immediately after we hit it, there was no question in either of our minds that we had found a new string. Prince’s poly ‘blows the doors off’ the polyester string we had been using previously, and we are ready to ‘unleash the Beast’ in 2012.”

The Bryan Brothers were provided string by Prince’s Global Business Director of Strings, Grips and Accessories, Nathan Price, earlier this winter and the brothers called him immediately to get more string before heading to Australia. They dominated their first event with the new strings, taking home the Australian Open warm up event in Sydney without dropping a set.

Said Price, “We’ve spent a great deal of time and energy developing product in the Prince R&D Innovation Center, but it was a group of elite, passionate, knowledgeable and committed players who put Beast on the map as early adopters. To have two of the sports’ elite players – and most knowledgeable gear experts – acknowledging its performance is special and another exciting step forward for this new string. We are receiving more calls and serious interest from other top pros, as well as elite juniors and coaches, all asking about the Prince Beast.”

The company has responded by launching a new program designed to enable coaches and program directors to more easily outfit their athletes with Beast XP. Full program details may be found at www.princetennis.com/tennis/files/teamPrinceSponsorShip.aspx.

“As a brand relentlessly committed to innovation, we made some enhancements to the original string for 2012 – making an incredible string, even more special,” said Roberto Gazzara, Vice President of Innovation and R&D at Prince. “The Beast is now even more durable, more powerful, and continues to outperform other competitive product in the lab and on the court.”