In conversations with Inside Tennis, USA Today, and the media, men’s doubles finalists Bob and Mike Bryan reflect on their storied career, luck, Federer and the possibility of winning their 100th tournament title here in New York at the US Open:
We live in a number-based society. What does the 100 milestone means to you?
It’s a number that you never thought you would ever achieve. It’s just a cool number to say. It rolls off the tongue. It would be nice to retire on that clean number. We might end our campaign out here, you never know [laughs].
… The 100 is going to come. There is no urgency. To do it here would be awesome, and a dream come true. If you do it anywhere, you do it in New York, your home Slam. But that number is going to come, no matter if it’s this week or next week. We just want to win the US Open, that’s the biggest thing. We haven’t won a Slam this year, so there’s that burn. You saw it out there tonight, we were just clawing and throwing everything we have at them.
And we want to play better. If we can get over the hump on Sunday, it’d be pretty amazing for us.
There’s that [lucky] penny [within wrist tape that Mike is unwrapping].
Yeah. How do you know that?
I know everything about you—you sleep on your left side.
I found this one in a car earlier this week and it’s my lucky one. It’s 2012. I found it on heads.
So, it’s like the tennis gods said, “Okay, we’ll give you a lot: make you twins—one lefty, one righty—and you’ll be raised and trained by tennis fanatics. But on the other hand, whenever you get close to a big milestone, we’re going put the brakes on you. It’s going to take you a while to achieve certain things.” It took you forever just to get on the Davis Cup team, and to tie the record of most doubles wins by the Woodies [Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge]—
There are always hurdles and milestones that you’re trying to reach. I remember we were stuck on that number of nine titles for a long time, trying to get the Gulliksons’ record of ten [titles for twins]. We got stuck on that for six months. We wanted that one so bad. We didn’t think we would ever get it. Finally got it in Barcelona. I remember we wrote Tim Gullikson’s name on our shoes. That was a big one. We didn’t win our first title for two years on tour. Finally got it in Memphis. There’s always things to check off the list. Playing that first Davis Cup was big, winning our first Grand Slam. One hundred titles—well, we were stuck on 98 for a couple of months there. We won our first title as 36-year-olds in Cincinnati.
Last year you came in here going for the Grand Slam.
We came in with an avalanche of success. We clinched No. 1 after Cincinnati, which is ridiculous. That’s never been done. We had 14,750 points, the next team had 4,000. Every big tournament, we were winning, which was just nuts. Maybe it had something to do with getting the gold medal and the confidence that brought, and the happiness that we had. This year we knew that we wouldn’t back that one up. But we’re having a consistent season, we’re No. 1. That’s really the goal from the start of the season. We look at the race all of the time, and we’re still at the top. But we’ve always had a successful season that comes with a Slam, so we want to get that here.
Are you back to earth more than you anticipated?
We’ve won four [now five] matches here, and we’ve won big titles. Winning Indian Wells and Miami back to back was important to us, a huge milestone.
If we are going to look at our year, we’d give it a B+, or a B. Winning four Masters series and six titles is good. It’s kind of been like Serena’s year, she’s been great outside the Slams.
What’s the one tournament you won where you really lucked out and you’re glad it’s on your resume? Or one that you should have won and didn’t?
Last year, we won 11 titles, but in four or five of them, we were down match points. Out here it can be just one point—there’s so much luck that’s involved. It’s crazy.
When you’re in those kinds of dicey situations, do you think there’s anything in particular that separates you guys from the others?
We play the percentages very well. On those really tight positions, we make our opponents play—like Bob makes first serves, that’s percentage doubles. I fill in the middle. You’ve got to make them hit their best shots.
Everyone says you have to make your own luck and take advantage of it when you get it. Talk about that.
You make luck by working hard and feeling like you deserve it in those big moments. When you put the work in, you have a peace of mind, and you can focus. When you feel like you haven’t done the hard yards, you feel undeserving, and that’s when you really need luck. But you make your own luck.
Do you remember a time in the last decade when you hadn’t won a Slam by this point in the year?
Yeah, in 2005 we hadn’t won a Slam. And in 2008, we didn’t win one until here.
Part of being such a great doubles team for so long is facing many good foes. What have you learned from some of the other teams you’ve faced?
You try to learn from those who came before you, like the Jensen brothers [Luke and Murphy]. Tennis is not just about the wins and losses. It’s also about entertainment. You want to show fans a good time. They were the masters of that, almost to a fault. Sometimes they let it interfere with their tennis.
As little kids watching those guys, we just had a blast. We even had a temporary Jensens tattoo in our arm. We watched a ton of them. The Woodies what they did without having power, the way they dissected teams was incredible. The Woodies really started using strategies in tennis. They kind of revolutionized doubles. Now you see a ton of different formations, “I” formation, plus a lot of other wild strategies going on. Over the years we became more professional, learnt how to keep our level high, without getting out of control, so now we don’t have the big highs and lows like we used to.
For many fans, you are the only doubles team they know.
Yes, we like to stand for doubles. We like to strategize our opponents and promote [the game] the best we can. A lot of fans say, “You are our favorite team.” And I go, “Who is your second favorite team?” A lot of times we are carrying the flag for doubles, but lots of fans love doubles, they play it. As you know, it’s very different from singles. Singles will take 99 percent of the [TV air] time, but you need doubles to complement singles. When we are done playing, maybe we will still be ambassadors for doubles, be commissioners for doubles [to make sure] it stays alive.
Federer’s out there playing now. What can doubles players learn from the greatest singles players on the tour?
I love watching Roger. He never presses, he’s always relaxed, he never gets too high or too low. He’s loose before matches, he’s loose after matches, he’s always steady and calm. When you’re around him, it rubs off on you, and you feel like you’re more zen. He’s just a classy dude. He always stops and has a conversation, he never blows you off. A few guys blow me off daily. He never does.
Any names?
Legends of the game [laughs].
Left-handed legends of the game?
Yes.
Moving right along, does a tournament have a sort of intuitive sense, a momentum or feel of its own? At some point do you feel, “Hey, we’re on a roll, this is within our grasp”?
When you’re playing well, and your game is there, you don’t feel as nervous. I feel like that’s the case in this Slam. Whether we win or lose, I feel like everything is going well on the practice court, and I’m sleeping better at night. You have to make it happen, though. It feels like it’s building up to be a fairytale—our 100th title, and at the US Open—but last year was the same way. You have to make it happen, you have to go put there and beat a good team. They’re not just going to get spooked, and the gods aren’t going to wave a magic wand. You gotta go get it and keep playing aggressive.
How well do you think you’re playing at this point in the tournament?
I think we’re playing well. This last match was a definite true test. We’re playing good enough tennis to win a Slam, and yeah, we can kick it up a gear. I feel like things are clicking on the practice court and in the match. Tonight … there was a lot of adversity, and we were calm and rose to the occasion and that’s a good sign. We didn’t snipe at each other or say s— to each other, which was nice.
You were down break points at some key stages [in the quarterfinals]. At crunch time, when it’s all on the line, how do you deal with it internally? Do you try to stay calm at all costs, or do you rev it up?
You have to project a positive energy. Sometimes you’re just faking it until you make it, hoping to god that you’ll win a point.
It starts with your face. You have to have that air of confidence in the big moments.
You’ve said that you might want to be doubles commissioners one day. What’s the first thing that you would do?
When we’re done, doubles could fall by the wayside. Doubles guys get about 10% of the singles money at tournaments. If there’s not someone looking out for it, that number is going to get smaller and smaller. Someone has to make a stand and be sure that guys keep making a living, because if you’re top 30 in the world at anything you should be able to make a good living, and that’s not really the case in doubles. If you’re the top 30 lawyer in the world, you have a yacht. We have to make sure these guys can sustain a life out here.
Once again there are no more American men left in the singles. Do you feel any pressure as the only Americans left in the field?
No, luckily we don’t get all the negative press that comes with the spotlight. It’s good for us. We don’t feel the pressure of being the last Americans standing. It’s happened a bunch of times in Slams in the last ten years.
If you could change anything in your games—
I would like to add 20 pounds of muscle in my legs. I would like to have Fernando Gonzales’ forehand.
You first came up when Andre Agassi was an incredible leader of American men’s tennis. Then, for years, Andy Roddick was an inspirational leader. We all love John Isner, but he is different, such a laid back guy. He says he’s really focusing on his own play, his own career. Would you like to see him or Sam Querrey step up with a greater sense of urgency, and sort of say, “Come on guys we got to do it for America”?
John is such a laid back guy. He leads through his actions. Sam’s the same way. They are common guys. [They have] a different mentality than Courier and Sampras. Everyone is different.
You guys have had great, incredible careers in the juniors, college, pros. You’ve traveled the world. What’s the best part of being the Bryan brothers?
Just being with each other, I guess. It’s kinda built in. We like to do the same things. We like to wake up here every day with a purpose. But in a way, you never relax the mind, you are always thinking about the next match, the next technique to do better and improve. It will be nice, one day, to maybe relax.
So you feel a kind of responsibility [to each other]?
Yes, we are kind of pushing each other. We are on the same page—obviously, we don’t want to switch partners. We want the best.
