Bryan Brothers Set Another Record

Written by: Staff on 8th July 2013

Bryan Brothers Set Another Record

epa03778497 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan celebrate with their trophies after winning the gentlemen's doubles final against Croat Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo of Brazil for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

The United States has experienced better Wimbledons with not a single male making it through to the third round of the singles while run-away ladies single favorite Serena Williams lost out early. But once again the doubles pairing of Bob and Mike Bryan came to the rescue.

The 35 year-old twins from California became the first men’s doubles team in the history of Open-era tennis to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time and the 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over the 12th seeded pairing of Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo of Brazil was the Bryan’s 15th men’s doubles major title.

If the Bryans win the US Open in September, they’ll join Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman as the second men’s team to complete a calendar Grand Slam. The Aussie duo did it in 1951, 17 years before the Open era began, and ended up winning seven titles in a row before the streak was snapped at the 1952 US Open.

“Everything now feels like a bonus,” Bob Bryan enthused. “It just feels like we’re adding nuts and whipped cream and cherries to our great career. We said that a few years ago: If we retire today, we feel like we’ve done it all. Let’s go have some fun and add to whatever this is.”

And Mike looked back to their Men’s Doubles triumph on the same courts in last year’s London Olympics when he added: “I didn’t think anything could feel as sweet as the gold medal, but this one just feels like there’s a cap, a lid, or a ribbon around our career.

“It’s pretty cool. It’s something we never dreamed of, to try to win four in a row. It’s too hard to dominate in doubles. Maybe we had a little luck involved along the way. We just took them one at a time. It just added up.”

The Bryans still seem to employ the same perspective about their tennis as when they first arrived on the world scene at the end of the last century.

“We’ve put the game in the right perspective in our life,” Bob said. “When we lose, it’s not the end of the world. We’ve done it all in the sport, and now we’re just out there taking swings and not living and dying with every win and loss.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: American tennis news, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Serena Williams, Wimbledon Chapionships