Bob and Mike Bryan added to the reasons for being recognised in tennis’ hall of fame when they won their eleventh Grand Slam men’s doubles title with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 win over Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau.
The Californian lefty-righty twins, who were told by their parents not to compete for real when they faced each other in tournaments, long ago became eye-catching duo.
After quitting singles entirely they went on to win at least one Grand Slam title every year since 2003, to accumulate the complete set of four Slams, and to surpass Mark Woodforde’s and Todd Woodbridge’s record of 61 titles.
Now they have equalled the Australians’ record of the most number of Grand Slam men’s doubles titles in the open era, doing so with an economical victory which was a relief after their marathon third round and semi-final survivals in five sets.
“To equal the Woodies, a team that we idolized, the greatest team in our mind, is unbelievable. I mean, to get their title record and get the Grand Slam record, I mean, I’m trying to figure out what’s left,” said Mike.
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“Those guys have been really gracious. They’re the first to come up to us and congratulate us. Mark came to L.A. when we broke the 61 record.” It was important that the Bryans got an early break in both the first two sets, both because they are a good front running team, and also because they were unsure how much energy they had left.
Once Tecau recovered from an indifferent start, it became closer, however, and turned into a contest of big serving. The tie-breaker in the third set might have seen the Sweden/Rumanian pair turn the match around, but the Americans played well at the death.
“In the first week we were on the schedule three days in a row and we didn’t play,” Mike recalled. “We knew it was going to get busy in the second week.
“One match was two days long, the 16-14 (in the final set against Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley). We were taking one at a time. We were scraping and clawing. We didn’t have a lot of time to even think about the next round.
“We were getting back from the courts at 10:00 at night, massaging, ice bathing, and just waking up and coming right back out to the courts.” What’s left is for the Bryans to attempt the outright record of 12 Grand Slam titles at the US Open in New York in September when they will again be favourites. But they will be praying for a smoother schedule.