Bryans Clinch 70th Team Title With Second Monte-Carlo Win


The Bryans won their 18th
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

World No. 1 duo Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan clinched their 70th tour-level team title on Sunday as they won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title for a second time with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over unseeded South American pairing Juan Ignacio Chela and Bruno Soares.

Of their 70 titles together, 18 have come at the elite ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level, placing them joint second with Todd Woodbridge on the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles title leaders list (since 1990). Daniel Nestor leads the way with 24 of the coveted titles.

The Americans were contesting the final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club for the fourth time. They also won the title in 2007 (d. Benneteau-Gasquet) and finished runners-up in 2005 (l. to Paes-Zimonjic) and 2009 (l. to Nestor-Zimonjic).

“It feels great to win title No. 70, but even better to beat an experienced clay-court team in one of our favourite tournaments of the year,” said Bob Bryan. “Thanks to Prince Albert for staying to watch the doubles final, we really appreciate it.”

Mike Bryan added, “We’re very happy to play so well in Monte-Carlo; it’s been a while since we’ve won here. We’re feeling really good on the clay and we’re looking forward to the rest of the clay-court season.”

Victory brought the Bryans their third tour-level title of the season and their second in as many weeks. They won their 10th Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open (d. Bhupathi-Paes) in January and opened their clay-court campaign last week with success in Houston (d. Isner-Querrey).

Chela and Soares, who upset two seeded teams en route to the final, made the better start to the match, breaking to lead 2-1. But the South Americans had no chance to build on their lead as the Bryans quickly levelled and broke serve again in the seventh game to take a one-set lead. Capitalising on their momentum, the Bryans swiftly opened up a 2-0 lead in the second set and went on to close out victory on Mike Bryan’s serve, after saving three break points, in 54 minutes.

“There was a lot of crazy points out there,” reflected Bob Bryan. “I think the fans had a good time because there was a lot of contrast of styles – baseline points, big serves, drop volleys. I just felt like we were having fun and when we’re having fun we play our best tennis.

Chela and Soares were both contesting their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals. The 31-year-old Chela dropped to a 3-3 record in ATP World Tour doubles finals, while the 29-year-old Soares slipped to a 5-7 mark.

In his runner-up speech, Soares said, “First of all I want to thank my partner, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s a great honour to play the finals here in Monte-Carlo against the No. 1 team in the world.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … unday.aspx

BRYANS WIN FOURTH QUEEN'S TITLE; EARN HARD-FOUGHT WIN OVER BHUPATHI-PAES


The Bryans performed double duty on Saturday at the AEGON Championships.

Top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won their fourth AEGON Championships title with a hard-fought 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 10-6 win over third-seeded Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes on Monday.

The Americans lifted their fifth title of the season (5-2), having also beaten Bhupathi and Paes in January's Australian Open final. The duo also improved to 72-40 in career doubles finals.

One set and 4-2 up, 37-year-old Bhupathi gifted the Bryans a break of serve with the team's third double fault of the match. But the Indians looked to have regained their composure when they took a 3-1 lead in the Match Tie-break.

However, the Bryans responded and won seven straight points reversing a 2-5 deficit into a 9-5 lead. They recorded their 25th match win at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament with victory in one hour and 44 minutes.

The Bryans were playing at The Queen's Club for the 12th time in 13 years. They had previously won the title in 2001, 2004-05.

They hit six aces and won 68 per cent of their service points, saving six of nine break points. Bhupathi and Paes, who struck nine aces and won three fewer points (85) than the victors, dropped to a 20-6 match record on the year.

Bhupathi and Paes dropped to a 25-12 record in finals together. Bhupathi is 48-40 lifetime in title matches, while Paes - also aged 37 - is 46-34 in finals. Bhupathi was also a runner-up with Max Mirnyi in 2002 and 2003.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … Title.aspx

BRYANS ADVANCE TO FIFTH WIMBLEDON FINAL

Top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan advanced to their fifth Wimbledon final, but were pushed to a five-set battle by No. 6 seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic on Friday. The Bryans hung on to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-7(4), 9-7 in three hours and 37 minutes.

The 2006 champions held three match points in the third set tie-break, but Llodra and Zimonjic denied the twins a straight-sets victory. After winning the fourth set, the French-Serbian tandem opened a 4-1 lead in the fifth set, before the Bryans clawed their way back to even the set at 4-4. Finally, in the 15th game, the No. 1 seeds broke and then Mike Bryan served it out to clinch the victory.

The Bryans will look to win their second title at the All England Club on Saturday when they face 8th-seeded Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau, who are appearing in the final for the second year in a row. Should the Americans win their 11th major championship, they will tie Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde for the most Grand Slam team titles.

Llodra and Zimonjic, both former champions at The Championships, were aiming to reach their first major final together. Llodra claimed the 2007 title with Arnaud Clement and Zimonjic triumped in 2008 and 2009 with Daniel Nestor.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … onjic.aspx

Wywiad z Bryanami po zwycięstwie w Wimbledonie

Bryan, Bryan bt. Lindstedt, Tecau 6 3, 6 4, 7 6
Q. How will you summarize the game today?

MIKE BRYAN: Well, I mean, it was an early break in the first two sets, so we got off out of the blocks pretty quick. We're a good front running team, so that give us a lot of confidence.

From yesterday we didn't have a lot in our legs. We knew we had to finish it off in three or four.

You know, it was a big serving match. Came down to the breaker in the third. We played a good breaker.

Q. The third set was a problem.

BOB BRYAN: It was tight. Those guys started serving well. They had a day to think about the match, which might have hurt them in a way, 'cause they came out a little over probably jacked and they hit some double faults.

We got the early break, and sometimes that's all it takes on grass. We played a five setter yesterday. We didn't have a chance to think about it or get nervous about it. We came out there in rhythm from yesterday's match, which helped us.

Q. There's no truth to the rumour that the 11th is easiest, is there?

MIKE BRYAN: No. But it was (laughter).

Q. For those of us who weren't able to follow you, so many ups and downs having to play so many matches. Can you summarize the week.

MIKE BRYAN: It was a tough week. I mean, the first week we were on the schedule three days in a row TBA and we didn't play. We knew it was going to get busy in the second week.

One match was two days long, the 16 14. 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.

We played 1:00 and noon maybe four days in a row.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, now that I think about it, our two Wimbledon titles we came from a break down in the fifth. The times we've cruised to the finals we've lost, so it's weird how that works.

Q. This must be one of your best performances in a Grand Slam final.

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. I mean, we've had a couple good ones. This one felt really good. We weren't really threatened on our serve. I don't think we faced a breakpoint, did we?

BOB BRYAN: I don't think so.

MIKE BRYAN: So this one was definitely pretty smooth. US Open 2005 I think we won in under an hour.

Q. You played pretty traditional doubles, no I formation, just...

MIKE BRYAN: No, we don't like to talk a lot. We just like to keep it simple. We play quick and in rhythm. We're too big to get down in the I formation. We're too slow to get out of there (laughter).

BOB BRYAN: We're one of the last surviving kind of traditional teams. A lot of the teams are going to the I. I would say 80, 90% of the guys are down in the middle of the court, playing that kind of brand. So we're one of the last guys left.

Q. There's a chance for error in that.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, you can get lit up by a great returning team. Sometimes it's kind of a bluff to hide weaknesses in your serve and volley game. We just have to play straight up.

Q. Are you easing out of the chest bump now?

MIKE BRYAN: We did one in every match up until the final. Did we do one?

BOB BRYAN: I think so.

MIKE BRYAN: We're not phasing it out. I mean, I don't know even know what we did when we won. I just think I put my arms up and we hugged, but it's a blur.

Q. There's a shiny bobble on your finger. Can you talk about how that's changed things? Are you still in the same house?

MIKE BRYAN: Well, Bob's married. He lives in Miami now. I'm on the West Coast. We're on different coasts, which is different, but we're always together on the road. We haven't been home since January.

I eventually want to be near Bob. I think I'm going to try to get him to come to California again.

When you moving back?

BOB BRYAN: I don't know, man. I'm trying to convince this guy to come to Florida and he's trying to convince me.

But, yeah, I mean, it feels the same.

Q. So preparation wise just...

BOB BRYAN: We're still committed to our tennis, and we're working as hard as ever. You know, I'm married. We're still all travelling together. He's got his girl with him 52 weeks out of the year. We're in the same house right now. We're all getting along great, which is good.

It's not easy for everyone living together. It's not natural, I mean, for the girls. They have to be twins pretty much, because they're hanging out nonstop.

But, you know, this week it was smooth. It's not going to change for a while. We're going to be in this meat grinder for another four or five years.

Q. Mike, no pressure for you to settle down here?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, there is. Thanks for bringing it up. I've got a limited amount of time.

BOB BRYAN: Shot clock is running down.

MIKE BRYAN: End of the year is going to get hairy.

Q. Can you talk about the meaning of this one? It's No. 11, a significant marker. Do they become a blur? It's been a while since you got one here. Talk about the meaning of this one.

MIKE BRYAN: I mean, this is a Wimbledon title. This is as special as it gets. You know, I always thought we'd play our best at Wimbledon, and we've lost three heartbreaking finals. To get on that board again, to have two Wimbledon titles, is really special.

And then 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.

I mean, we'd love to try to get to 12 and do that at the Open, but those guys have been really gracious. They're the first to come up to us and congratulate us. Mark was in L.A. when we broke the 61 record.

But, you know, it's all a blur. This week was just so quick. We weren't even thinking about 11 until Mark Woodforde came up and said, Congrats on getting that 11th.

Q. And why the problems here?

BOB BRYAN: I think, you know, you feel like you're playing with the house chips. You get over that tough one where you could have lost, it kind of releases a bunch of pressure. When you win something big in a casino you keep pushing, you know.

That's what it feels like, you know. Sometimes in these tournaments when you're down match points you feel like you've faced death. I don't know, it brings something out of you, your best stuff.

But as far as why we've struggled here, I don't think we've struggled. I mean, ten times I think we've been in the semi-finals or better. It's just getting over that hump, which, I don't know, I think you always need a little bit of luck to win a slam. A lot of guys talk about that.

The Huss Moodie was one we should have won, but we kind of underestimated those guys and they they nipped us in the butt [sic]. The others ones were just big serving matches against Nestor , Zimonjic, and Llodra.

So I don't know, I'll take these two. I'm happy with these two. Next year we'll go for the third. But this is very sweet for us.

Q. How many match points did you survive total here?

BOB BRYAN: None.

MIKE BRYAN: We were down 4 1 in the fifth yesterday. We weren't down any match points.

Q. Mike, you looked a little irritable yesterday.

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, we knew that the final is the next day; we wanted to finish it off in straights. We had three match points in the third set breaker. They were weird match points.

One Bob hit around the net pole. It was just crazy. So we were getting pretty frustrated.

BOB BRYAN: Starting chirping a little bit to each other.

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, started talking to each other. I'm never going to play with you again (laughter).

And then, you know, just a little bit of luck at 4 2.

BOB BRYAN: Sometimes when yeah, we were chirping, chirping, and then you're down a break.

MIKE BRYAN: You just loosen up.

BOB BRYAN: It kind of goes quiet, goes calm. You don't hear anything.

MIKE BRYAN: I started putting my towels in my bag on the changeover because I didn't want to forget my extra towel. I have 15 of them, but I got a lot of friends back home.

So once I started doing that we hadn't broken in over an hour and a half, two hours, so I didn't think we were going to break again. So I don't know.

Q. Have you ever talked of retirement?

BOB BRYAN: You know, we talk about it a lot. I think we can see the finish line now, which makes it easier to work hard. We see our time out here as I think five or six more years. You look at Nestor. He's 39, almost turning 40. The guy's just having a great time still and he's playing well.

I think eight years ago, Don Johnson, at 32, was the oldest guy on the tour. But doubles players' career lifespan has changed. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the scoring, the way the game is set up with the ranking system.

I think we're going to milk it as long as we can. We've talked to veterans that have retired, like Eltingh or Haarhuis. They're guys are like, Jeez, I wish we would have kept going.

We'll keep going.

Q. Do you two get along outside tennis?

BOB BRYAN: Yes, we do.

MIKE BRYAN: Yes.

Q. There must be a bad time there.

BOB BRYAN: No, we get along.

MIKE BRYAN: We do. We walk in the house, we go into the music room and we're jamming at night for a half hour.

First thing in the morning, I hear Bob on the piano, and I go down there and I plug in my guitar. Yeah, I mean, we have a blast together. We share the same DNA.

I mean, we have our fights, but...

Q. You mentioned Nestor. The average age is obviously up there. Are there prospects? Are there Ryan Harrisons and Dimitrovs of doubles where you are like, This is the next generation?

BOB BRYAN: Unfortunately that has kind of changed with the singles players infusing doubles has cut a lot of jobs. It's hard with the way the rankings system is set up.

If you're not playing Masters Series and going deep in slams you're not in the top 20, which is where you need to be in doubles to really make a great living.

It's hard. There's not a lot of guys coming up like we did, that are committed to doubles, that are able to break in.

Q. Any singles guys like 50 to 80 that you say, This guy, if he doesn't cut it in singles, he's got a future in doubles?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, Raonic (laughter).

Yeah, I mean, everyone when they come on the tour, they're like, I'm going to go singles. I mean, there's a few nasty guys, if they wanted to go to doubles...

Yeah, I mean, like Federer, if he wanted to...

Q. He's still top 50, I think.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, sometimes it's like a pride thing for these guys. When their singles start to taper off, they're never like, Nah, I'm just going to go just play doubles.

For us it was an early decision. Yeah, I mean, there's a bunch of guys that could probably do it. If they could focus on doubles, they could make a lot of money and have a great career. It's a pride thing. We're singles players, and I don't feel like I'm a player if I'm just playing doubles.

Q. Do you have an idea in your head of how many slams you can win?

MIKE BRYAN: It's been a good last few years. We won two last year. I think we've been in the finals of the Aussie Open seven of the last eight years. The doubles specialists, they're aging, and we're still on the young side at 33. You know, I think we're hitting our peak. We won 11 titles last year.

We haven't set a goal, like we want to get to 16 or Federer's number or whatever.

BOB BRYAN: Taking it one match at a time.

Q. Azarenka told us a tear jerker story about her grandma. When you get in touch with your grandmother and she asks about your experience at Wimbledon this year, what do you say?

BOB BRYAN: This title, my grandpa just went in for surgery on Wednesday. He's almost pushing 90. We have four grandparents that are pushing 90.

MIKE BRYAN: They're all 90.

BOB BRYAN: He went in for a serious surgery. He had a cancerous tumor cut out. He went in the hospital, so this one was for him. Right before he went in for the surgery, we won that 16 14 in the fifth.

I know he was really scared to go in, and he's like, Take me, I don't care. We feel like in some certain way, we're keeping them going with our tennis. My grandma has marked off every point we ever played in our whole career, which is wild. She's got a stack of yellow note pads this deep.

So they're following it closely. Whatever we can do to keep them happy, give them a little joy.

Q. What's her name?

MIKE BRYAN: It's Alice Bryan.

Q. Have you been talking to Todd Woodbridge at all?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, we see him every day in the locker room. See more of Mark.

Q. Any jawing about the record?

MIKE BRYAN: No, they're always supportive. Mark, before we walked out there, he looked us in the eyes, he's like, Good luck, really sincere, which makes us feel good.

They're not jealous about their records. You know, they have their place in history. They're in the Hall of Fame. They won six Wimbledons. I mean, they have a case, and they're the best team, you know.

We have a case now, obviously. But they're really cool guys.

Q. What do you think when you hear people talk about Roger, of course he's slowing down because he's nearing 30? As you said, you're on the young side of 33. Secondly, you have Tiger following Jack, and Roger was pretty outspoken about how he was chasing Pete's titles. Why do you not look at the titles?

MIKE BRYAN: We do. I mean, we do. This is our first press conference of the tournament (laughter).

BOB BRYAN: I mean, that 61 record was big on the horizon. Right after we broke their record, we were looking at this 11. We did that pretty quick. We're tied with those guys.

I don't know, it's an honor. We just got to let it seep in a little bit. Every slam we give a hundred percent. We don't want to say we're going for 20 because if we don't get there, it's going to be a letdown.

We're happy with what we've done. We're not content or satisfied. But, you know, we have smiles on our faces when we walk by our trophy case in the morning. I mean, how this career has gone has been a storybook for us.

Q. You're one ahead of Nadal now in slam titles. Is catching Federer possible, 16?

BOB BRYAN: No, it's not. That's an ugly number, man.

MIKE BRYAN: That's way up there.

Q. Who do you like in the singles tomorrow?

MIKE BRYAN: I don't know. I think Djokovic has had his number this year. Maybe he's got a little bit of a mental edge. But, you know, he's really happy he's No. 1 now. He could let down.

BOB BRYAN: He's a good buddy of ours, Djokovic. Nadal has his locker right next to us. He came up and said good luck to us. They're both good guys.

MIKE BRYAN: They're both really loose, too. They're relaxed and joking around.

BOB BRYAN: Hitting a lot of putts in the locker room, so...

Q. Talk about Davis Cup.

MIKE BRYAN: We're going straight to Austin in the morning. We're going to miss the ball. All the guys are already there getting ready. So we're excited. We're going to be talking about this for the next 24 hours then right to Davis Cup.

BOB BRYAN: We keep telling Courier, he's texting us, like, Way to go guys. We're like, one more practice match and then we'll see you in Austin. This is just the warmup, the under card for Austin.

Yeah, we're going to switch gears and get back in Davis Cup mode, which is going to be wild because we've been over here for three months. You might want to go blow it out and party, but no, back to business tomorrow.

Q. How is Novak's impression of you guys?

MIKE BRYAN: I'm sure he's done it in the locker room. Yeah, chest bump (smiling). Yeah, he's probably done it, but we haven't seen it yet.

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Bryan, Bryan bt. Lindstedt, Tecau 6 3, 6 4, 7 6

Q. How will you summarize the game today?

MIKE BRYAN: Well, I mean, it was an early break in the first two sets, so we got off out of the blocks pretty quick. We're a good front running team, so that give us a lot of confidence.

From yesterday we didn't have a lot in our legs. We knew we had to finish it off in three or four.

You know, it was a big serving match. Came down to the breaker in the third. We played a good breaker.

Q. The third set was a problem.

BOB BRYAN: It was tight. Those guys started serving well. They had a day to think about the match, which might have hurt them in a way, 'cause they came out a little over probably jacked and they hit some double faults.

We got the early break, and sometimes that's all it takes on grass. We played a five setter yesterday. We didn't have a chance to think about it or get nervous about it. We came out there in rhythm from yesterday's match, which helped us.

Q. There's no truth to the rumour that the 11th is easiest, is there?

MIKE BRYAN: No. But it was (laughter).

Q. For those of us who weren't able to follow you, so many ups and downs having to play so many matches. Can you summarize the week.

MIKE BRYAN: It was a tough week. I mean, the first week we were on the schedule three days in a row TBA and we didn't play. We knew it was going to get busy in the second week.

One match was two days long, the 16 14. 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.

We played 1:00 and noon maybe four days in a row.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, now that I think about it, our two Wimbledon titles we came from a break down in the fifth. The times we've cruised to the finals we've lost, so it's weird how that works.

Q. This must be one of your best performances in a Grand Slam final.

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. I mean, we've had a couple good ones. This one felt really good. We weren't really threatened on our serve. I don't think we faced a breakpoint, did we?

BOB BRYAN: I don't think so.

MIKE BRYAN: So this one was definitely pretty smooth. US Open 2005 I think we won in under an hour.

Q. You played pretty traditional doubles, no I formation, just...

MIKE BRYAN: No, we don't like to talk a lot. We just like to keep it simple. We play quick and in rhythm. We're too big to get down in the I formation. We're too slow to get out of there (laughter).

BOB BRYAN: We're one of the last surviving kind of traditional teams. A lot of the teams are going to the I. I would say 80, 90% of the guys are down in the middle of the court, playing that kind of brand. So we're one of the last guys left.

Q. There's a chance for error in that.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, you can get lit up by a great returning team. Sometimes it's kind of a bluff to hide weaknesses in your serve and volley game. We just have to play straight up.

Q. Are you easing out of the chest bump now?

MIKE BRYAN: We did one in every match up until the final. Did we do one?

BOB BRYAN: I think so.

MIKE BRYAN: We're not phasing it out. I mean, I don't know even know what we did when we won. I just think I put my arms up and we hugged, but it's a blur.

Q. There's a shiny bobble on your finger. Can you talk about how that's changed things? Are you still in the same house?

MIKE BRYAN: Well, Bob's married. He lives in Miami now. I'm on the West Coast. We're on different coasts, which is different, but we're always together on the road. We haven't been home since January.

I eventually want to be near Bob. I think I'm going to try to get him to come to California again.

When you moving back?

BOB BRYAN: I don't know, man. I'm trying to convince this guy to come to Florida and he's trying to convince me.

But, yeah, I mean, it feels the same.

Q. So preparation wise just...

BOB BRYAN: We're still committed to our tennis, and we're working as hard as ever. You know, I'm married. We're still all travelling together. He's got his girl with him 52 weeks out of the year. We're in the same house right now. We're all getting along great, which is good.

It's not easy for everyone living together. It's not natural, I mean, for the girls. They have to be twins pretty much, because they're hanging out nonstop.

But, you know, this week it was smooth. It's not going to change for a while. We're going to be in this meat grinder for another four or five years.

Q. Mike, no pressure for you to settle down here?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, there is. Thanks for bringing it up. I've got a limited amount of time.

BOB BRYAN: Shot clock is running down.

MIKE BRYAN: End of the year is going to get hairy.

Q. Can you talk about the meaning of this one? It's No. 11, a significant marker. Do they become a blur? It's been a while since you got one here. Talk about the meaning of this one.

MIKE BRYAN: I mean, this is a Wimbledon title. This is as special as it gets. You know, I always thought we'd play our best at Wimbledon, and we've lost three heartbreaking finals. To get on that board again, to have two Wimbledon titles, is really special.

And then 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.

I mean, we'd love to try to get to 12 and do that at the Open, but those guys have been really gracious. They're the first to come up to us and congratulate us. Mark was in L.A. when we broke the 61 record.

But, you know, it's all a blur. This week was just so quick. We weren't even thinking about 11 until Mark Woodforde came up and said, Congrats on getting that 11th.

Q. And why the problems here?

BOB BRYAN: I think, you know, you feel like you're playing with the house chips. You get over that tough one where you could have lost, it kind of releases a bunch of pressure. When you win something big in a casino you keep pushing, you know.

That's what it feels like, you know. Sometimes in these tournaments when you're down match points you feel like you've faced death. I don't know, it brings something out of you, your best stuff.

But as far as why we've struggled here, I don't think we've struggled. I mean, ten times I think we've been in the semi-finals or better. It's just getting over that hump, which, I don't know, I think you always need a little bit of luck to win a slam. A lot of guys talk about that.

The Huss Moodie was one we should have won, but we kind of underestimated those guys and they they nipped us in the butt [sic]. The others ones were just big serving matches against Nestor , Zimonjic, and Llodra.

So I don't know, I'll take these two. I'm happy with these two. Next year we'll go for the third. But this is very sweet for us.

Q. How many match points did you survive total here?

BOB BRYAN: None.

MIKE BRYAN: We were down 4 1 in the fifth yesterday. We weren't down any match points.

Q. Mike, you looked a little irritable yesterday.

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, we knew that the final is the next day; we wanted to finish it off in straights. We had three match points in the third set breaker. They were weird match points.

One Bob hit around the net pole. It was just crazy. So we were getting pretty frustrated.

BOB BRYAN: Starting chirping a little bit to each other.

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, started talking to each other. I'm never going to play with you again (laughter).

And then, you know, just a little bit of luck at 4 2.

BOB BRYAN: Sometimes when yeah, we were chirping, chirping, and then you're down a break.

MIKE BRYAN: You just loosen up.

BOB BRYAN: It kind of goes quiet, goes calm. You don't hear anything.

MIKE BRYAN: I started putting my towels in my bag on the changeover because I didn't want to forget my extra towel. I have 15 of them, but I got a lot of friends back home.

So once I started doing that we hadn't broken in over an hour and a half, two hours, so I didn't think we were going to break again. So I don't know.

Q. Have you ever talked of retirement?

BOB BRYAN: You know, we talk about it a lot. I think we can see the finish line now, which makes it easier to work hard. We see our time out here as I think five or six more years. You look at Nestor. He's 39, almost turning 40. The guy's just having a great time still and he's playing well.

I think eight years ago, Don Johnson, at 32, was the oldest guy on the tour. But doubles players' career lifespan has changed. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the scoring, the way the game is set up with the ranking system.

I think we're going to milk it as long as we can. We've talked to veterans that have retired, like Eltingh or Haarhuis. They're guys are like, Jeez, I wish we would have kept going.

We'll keep going.

Q. Do you two get along outside tennis?

BOB BRYAN: Yes, we do.

MIKE BRYAN: Yes.

Q. There must be a bad time there.

BOB BRYAN: No, we get along.

MIKE BRYAN: We do. We walk in the house, we go into the music room and we're jamming at night for a half hour.

First thing in the morning, I hear Bob on the piano, and I go down there and I plug in my guitar. Yeah, I mean, we have a blast together. We share the same DNA.

I mean, we have our fights, but...

Q. You mentioned Nestor. The average age is obviously up there. Are there prospects? Are there Ryan Harrisons and Dimitrovs of doubles where you are like, This is the next generation?

BOB BRYAN: Unfortunately that has kind of changed with the singles players infusing doubles has cut a lot of jobs. It's hard with the way the rankings system is set up.

If you're not playing Masters Series and going deep in slams you're not in the top 20, which is where you need to be in doubles to really make a great living.

It's hard. There's not a lot of guys coming up like we did, that are committed to doubles, that are able to break in.

Q. Any singles guys like 50 to 80 that you say, This guy, if he doesn't cut it in singles, he's got a future in doubles?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, Raonic (laughter).

Yeah, I mean, everyone when they come on the tour, they're like, I'm going to go singles. I mean, there's a few nasty guys, if they wanted to go to doubles...

Yeah, I mean, like Federer, if he wanted to...

Q. He's still top 50, I think.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, sometimes it's like a pride thing for these guys. When their singles start to taper off, they're never like, Nah, I'm just going to go just play doubles.

For us it was an early decision. Yeah, I mean, there's a bunch of guys that could probably do it. If they could focus on doubles, they could make a lot of money and have a great career. It's a pride thing. We're singles players, and I don't feel like I'm a player if I'm just playing doubles.

Q. Do you have an idea in your head of how many slams you can win?

MIKE BRYAN: It's been a good last few years. We won two last year. I think we've been in the finals of the Aussie Open seven of the last eight years. The doubles specialists, they're aging, and we're still on the young side at 33. You know, I think we're hitting our peak. We won 11 titles last year.

We haven't set a goal, like we want to get to 16 or Federer's number or whatever.

BOB BRYAN: Taking it one match at a time.

Q. Azarenka told us a tear jerker story about her grandma. When you get in touch with your grandmother and she asks about your experience at Wimbledon this year, what do you say?

BOB BRYAN: This title, my grandpa just went in for surgery on Wednesday. He's almost pushing 90. We have four grandparents that are pushing 90.

MIKE BRYAN: They're all 90.

BOB BRYAN: He went in for a serious surgery. He had a cancerous tumor cut out. He went in the hospital, so this one was for him. Right before he went in for the surgery, we won that 16 14 in the fifth.

I know he was really scared to go in, and he's like, Take me, I don't care. We feel like in some certain way, we're keeping them going with our tennis. My grandma has marked off every point we ever played in our whole career, which is wild. She's got a stack of yellow note pads this deep.

So they're following it closely. Whatever we can do to keep them happy, give them a little joy.

Q. What's her name?

MIKE BRYAN: It's Alice Bryan.

Q. Have you been talking to Todd Woodbridge at all?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, we see him every day in the locker room. See more of Mark.

Q. Any jawing about the record?

MIKE BRYAN: No, they're always supportive. Mark, before we walked out there, he looked us in the eyes, he's like, Good luck, really sincere, which makes us feel good.

They're not jealous about their records. You know, they have their place in history. They're in the Hall of Fame. They won six Wimbledons. I mean, they have a case, and they're the best team, you know.

We have a case now, obviously. But they're really cool guys.

Q. What do you think when you hear people talk about Roger, of course he's slowing down because he's nearing 30? As you said, you're on the young side of 33. Secondly, you have Tiger following Jack, and Roger was pretty outspoken about how he was chasing Pete's titles. Why do you not look at the titles?

MIKE BRYAN: We do. I mean, we do. This is our first press conference of the tournament (laughter).

BOB BRYAN: I mean, that 61 record was big on the horizon. Right after we broke their record, we were looking at this 11. We did that pretty quick. We're tied with those guys.

I don't know, it's an honor. We just got to let it seep in a little bit. Every slam we give a hundred percent. We don't want to say we're going for 20 because if we don't get there, it's going to be a letdown.

We're happy with what we've done. We're not content or satisfied. But, you know, we have smiles on our faces when we walk by our trophy case in the morning. I mean, how this career has gone has been a storybook for us.

Q. You're one ahead of Nadal now in slam titles. Is catching Federer possible, 16?

BOB BRYAN: No, it's not. That's an ugly number, man.

MIKE BRYAN: That's way up there.

Q. Who do you like in the singles tomorrow?

MIKE BRYAN: I don't know. I think Djokovic has had his number this year. Maybe he's got a little bit of a mental edge. But, you know, he's really happy he's No. 1 now. He could let down.

BOB BRYAN: He's a good buddy of ours, Djokovic. Nadal has his locker right next to us. He came up and said good luck to us. They're both good guys.

MIKE BRYAN: They're both really loose, too. They're relaxed and joking around.

BOB BRYAN: Hitting a lot of putts in the locker room, so...

Q. Talk about Davis Cup.

MIKE BRYAN: We're going straight to Austin in the morning. We're going to miss the ball. All the guys are already there getting ready. So we're excited. We're going to be talking about this for the next 24 hours then right to Davis Cup.

BOB BRYAN: We keep telling Courier, he's texting us, like, Way to go guys. We're like, one more practice match and then we'll see you in Austin. This is just the warmup, the under card for Austin.

Yeah, we're going to switch gears and get back in Davis Cup mode, which is going to be wild because we've been over here for three months. You might want to go blow it out and party, but no, back to business tomorrow.

Q. How is Novak's impression of you guys?

MIKE BRYAN: I'm sure he's done it in the locker room. Yeah, chest bump (smiling). Yeah, he's probably done it, but we haven't seen it yet.

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