New York – Bob and Mike Bryan rewrote the history books for doubles again at Flushing Meadows on Friday by beating Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4 to claim their 12th Grand Slam title.
And Saturday they leave for Spain to prepare for the USA’s Davis Cup tie against Spain. They never stop.
But Friday’s US Open win took them past the Australian pair Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge and maintained their record of having won at least one Slam title every year for the past eight years. They are becoming an institution in American sport.
The 34-year-olds insist they are going to keep going until the Rio Olympics in 2016 so that they can give themselves a chance of adding to the Gold medal they won in London this summer. “But to have a huge record like the Grand Slam record is really cool,” said Mike. “You know, we’ve looked up to the Woodies and to steal their record is unbelievable because we idolize those guys.”
Despite their all-action style and trademark chest bumps when they win, the Bryans come across as a polite, low-key pair of siblings off court and just embrace all aspects of their life — the tennis, the training, the travel and the media.
“We’re playing a sport we have a lot of fun doing,” said Bob, whose baby daughter Micaela was brought up on the dais midway through the press conference.” Our parents instilled that love in the game early, and we still haven’t lost it. I think the biggest goal parents should have is making it fun for their kids. Not just drilling them into the ground, but making it fun. We were playing games, going to tournaments with our parents, having pizza and just fell in love with the game.”
This is a strong message from one of the greatest doubles teams of all time, and all those parents who get carried away with unrealistic dreams for their children should pull back and listen. Above everything — yes, above the titles and riches and glory — it should be fun.
“We had parents who didn’t come down on us for wins and losses,” said Bob. “But just kind of instilled good sportsmanship and making sure we were having fun. They were taking us to exhibitions, Indian Wells, Great Western Forum to make sure we saw that level, and we had dreams.”
Well done, Wayne and Kathy Bryan — you helped those dreams come true.
New York – Bob and Mike Bryan rewrote the history books for doubles again at Flushing Meadows on Friday by beating Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4 to claim their 12th Grand Slam title.
And Saturday they leave for Spain to prepare for the USA’s Davis Cup tie against Spain. They never stop.
But Friday’s US Open win took them past the Australian pair Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge and maintained their record of having won at least one Slam title every year for the past eight years. They are becoming an institution in American sport.
The 34-year-olds insist they are going to keep going until the Rio Olympics in 2016 so that they can give themselves a chance of adding to the Gold medal they won in London this summer. “But to have a huge record like the Grand Slam record is really cool,” said Mike. “You know, we’ve looked up to the Woodies and to steal their record is unbelievable because we idolize those guys.”
Despite their all-action style and trademark chest bumps when they win, the Bryans come across as a polite, low-key pair of siblings off court and just embrace all aspects of their life — the tennis, the training, the travel and the media.
“We’re playing a sport we have a lot of fun doing,” said Bob, whose baby daughter Micaela was brought up on the dais midway through the press conference.” Our parents instilled that love in the game early, and we still haven’t lost it. I think the biggest goal parents should have is making it fun for their kids. Not just drilling them into the ground, but making it fun. We were playing games, going to tournaments with our parents, having pizza and just fell in love with the game.”
This is a strong message from one of the greatest doubles teams of all time, and all those parents who get carried away with unrealistic dreams for their children should pull back and listen. Above everything — yes, above the titles and riches and glory — it should be fun.
“We had parents who didn’t come down on us for wins and losses,” said Bob. “But just kind of instilled good sportsmanship and making sure we were having fun. They were taking us to exhibitions, Indian Wells, Great Western Forum to make sure we saw that level, and we had dreams.”
Well done, Wayne and Kathy Bryan — you helped those dreams come true.