Bryan Brothers: 11 And Counting

Bryans match Woodies

The United States of America may find itself on the wrong side when it comes to success at the Grand Slam level in singles but the twin pairing of Bob and Mike Bryan gave the nation a reason to cheer when they clinched their Open Era record-equaling 11th Grand Slam title at this year’s Championships.

En route to the final, they survived two nail-biting five setters and played almost 13 sets in 3 successive days with two of them lasting for more than four hours. One of them was 16-14 in the fifth. They had one more unfinished job to do : To equal the Woodies.

And they did that in style. The final match appeared to be the easiest of the fortnight for the Bryans. While Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau suffered their second successive heartbreak at The All England Club, for the Bryan brothers, it was their 2nd Wimbledon trophy.

“To equal the Woodies, a team that we idolized, the greatest team in our mind, is unbelievable. To get their title record and get the Grand Slam record, I mean, I’m trying to figure out what’s left.” Mike said

The 33 year old Californians’ illustrious resume includes:

5 Australian Opens,

3 U.S. Opens,

1 Roland Garros and

2 Wimbledons — previously failing in three of four finals (l. to Huss-Moodie in 2005, to Clement-Llodra in 2007, to Nestor-Zimonjic in 2009).

62nd title at Los Angeles last year broke the Woodies’ record and this one was their 73rd. The 2nd Major of the season and already six tour-level titles including victory at the AEGON Championships in the lead-up to Wimbledon. They lead the way in the race to qualify for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Still, they are raring to go and rarely there is any sign of slowing down. With a left handed Bob and a right-handed Mike in the team, they are a complementary force. They might have equaled their idols, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde with 11th Grand Slam title, their hunger is still intact. They have their eyes on US Open to stamp their authority as the greatest men’s doubles team ever. Inspired by the success of Daniel Nestor at 39, they plan to play at least for five more years specifically the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As put in their own words, their career has been a “storybook”. In any case, their records may prove to be untouchable.