By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, August 25, 2016
"We feel like if we can win the Open, it would turn an average year into a great year for us. So there’s a lot of urgency," says Bob Bryan.
Photo credit: ITF/Davis Cup
New York City has been a major launching pad for the Bryan brothers' brand of adrenalized doubles.
Mike and Bob Bryan captured their first US Open title in 2005, beating then world No. 1 Jonas Bjorkman, who now coaches 2014 champion Marin Cilic, and second-ranked Max Mirnyi in the final.
Watch: Top 5 Reasons Djokovic Won't Break Federer's Slam Record
Flushing Meadows was the site of the twins' last Grand Slam crown. Two years ago, the Bryans beat Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers to claim their 16th Grand Slam title and 100th team title overall.
This season, the twins earned their 1,000th career victory, collected their 112th title together and reached the French Open final losing to Marc Lopez and Feliciano Lopez in an entertaining final.
The 38-year-old Bryan brothers arrive in New York for their 22nd consecutive US Open appearance.
Playing for a sixth US Open crown, the twins are eager to shake the memories of their 2015 first-round setback to Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, say they feel energized by their work with new coach Dusan VemiΔ and a new partnership with KT Tape.
We caught up with the Bryans, who took time out from training in the Hamptons, to discuss the challenges of winning in New York, their new coach, tennis' top trash talkers, their own brotherly battles and why Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray could each dominate doubles.
TN: What prompted your first use of KT and how do you use it now?
Mike Bryan: In the 2012 Olympics my knee was bothering me and luckily they had it in the training room. And all the trainers know how to apply it. It definitely gave me support for my knees. And we’ve had niggling injuries since forever. We’ve probably had everything: Shoulders, wrist, elbow injuries. We’ve been using it and we love it. It gives you that extra support. You can use it for everything. We’ve been lucky to partner with KT now, especially now that we’re 38 years old and we’re getting a little older. We don’t feel as fresh it helps us recover and it helps the pain we’re dealing with after 1,300 matches on Tour. It’s helping us and we need it.
TN: You guys have basically never missed a major. What’s the secret to your longevity?
Mike Bryan: We’ve been lucky. We’ve played every major since the French Open in 1999. That’s being ultra-professional, getting the right sleep, eating the right foods. We do yoga. We meditate. I bring a ton of things on the road with me. It’s taking care of your body, getting massage.
Bob Bryan: We don’t go out and party or drink. It’s every day. You don’t take a day off. We’re getting ready for the Open here in the Hamptons, but we’re still in the gym every morning, taking care of our bodies, stretching and doing everything you need to do.
Mike Bryan: When we were younger, when we were kids, we’d do four hours on the court and zero hours in the gym. As we got on tour, as we’ve gotten older that’s shifted. The way we divided our time has shifted. Now it’s about 50-50 to court time and gym time training. We don’t need to hit as many balls now. It’s about staying healthy, flexible and strong.
TN: You’ve experienced tremendous highs in New York, some of your peak moments, and you’ve also faced very painful losses. You lost first round last year. And in 2013 Paes and Stepanek denied you the Grand Slam in a high-quality semifinal. What are the advantages and challenges of playing in New York?
Bob Bryan: The advantages of playing in New York, for us, is the crowd, the adrenaline, the energy we feel every time we step on the court in New York.
Mike Bryan: We feel like we have a ton of support, people are behind us and so we really don't take a point off. We play with a lot of enthusiasm and that usually translates into great results for us. But like you said, we’ve had some tough moments. A first-round loss last year and we’ve lost a couple of times in the first round there. Anything can happen. Everyone brings their best stuff when they play against us. A lot of times, teams have nothing to lose. And from the first ball, we have to play our best stuff.
Bob Bryan: We’re looking forward to it, man. We won it in 2014. It was our last major. We’d love to get back in the winner’s circle in a couple of weeks. We’re training hard and feeling good. We feel like if we can win the Open, it would turn an average year into a great year for us. So there’s a lot of urgency and we’re going in pretty positive right now.
TN: You had a strong clay-court season, winning Houston, Barcelona and Rome and reaching the French Open final. Is there anything you can draw on from Paris and carry to New York or is it more a case of different surface, different angles, different atmosphere, different time?
Mike Bryan: I don't think we played a bad final. We put ourselves in position. It was a few points here and there. I thought it was a high-quality match. You can always take the experience of playing a Slam so recently because you’re used to the pressure. So we’ll put that in there and look at that as a positive. It’s the last Slam of the year. We're hungry to win another Slam, our home Slam. We're feeling good man. We’re healthy and we’re excited.
TN: I saw your Facebook post announcing you’re split with coach David Macpherson. Can you talk about that and your new coach?
Bob Bryan: We had 11 years with David. He's taken a nice opportunity over at George Washington University. He's actually going to help John Isner for I think 15 to 16 weeks a year, so we’ll still see David a little bit here and there. We have begun working with Dusan VemiΔ, the Serbian Olympic coach and he’s worked with Djokovic. And he has a completely different set of eyes, different philosophies. So it’s kind of nice now to have fresh change even though there was no one better than David and he’s still our loyal friend. We’re working on different things with Dusan technically and strategically. It’s just a fresh approach and at 38 years old that’s a good thing to keep things fun and new. So hopefully that sparks something in us.
Mike Bryan: Like Macca, Dusan is a very calming influence on us. We’re both pretty intense. And we can take it out on each other pretty hard. So it’s nice to have another guy that we can talk to, that’s calm and he’s not going to get worked up too much.
TN: You play a very high-energy intense brand of tennis. Does that ever spill over into life? Have you ever duked it out, come to blows in the locker room? Or can you just leave it on the court regardless of the result?
Mike Bryan: We're still very intense competitors. We hate to lose just as much now, at this age, as we did when we came on the tour at 20 years old. That’s kind of what drives us. We remember the losses even more than than we remember the wins. And those losses keep us up for two nights in a row with no sleep. So we hate that feeling and those negative feelings do spill over into the locker room and they drag on for a couple of days. That’s another reason why we do travel with a coach. Sometimes we can be a little too harsh on each other and so it’s nice to have coach to mediate a little bit.
Bob Bryan: No one travels with each other this many years as a row without having some ups and downs. It's like a 32-year marriage. We’ve been playing tournaments since we were six years old so it’s 32 years.
TN: You guys played Marin Cilic in Davis Cup recently, you saw him win his first Masters in Cincinnati. How has Cilic evolved as a player and how do you rate his shot of winning another US Open?
Mike Bryan: The guy is a really hard worker. And every time we go to the gym he's already in there. He's doing squats. He's just extremely professional and he’s always got a great attitude. He’s a dangerous player. The guy takes the ball early and keeps the pressure on opponents with his serve and return. You see him with his wings, he’s got a lot of leverage. I think he’s like six-foot-seven or six-foot-eight and he moves really well for a big guy. As we saw in Davis Cup, he returns really well. He doesn’t have any holes. He can crush the ball off both sides. He can go in there and win another Slam, I think. He showed how well he can play in Cincy.
TN: Roger and Rafa have won gold medals in doubles, Murray played tremendous doubles matches leading Britain to the Davis Cup last year. What makes those three great doubles players?
Bob Bryan: Those three guys specifically are the three guys whose games really translate well to doubles. They showed it with those big wins. Davis Cup and Olympics is where doubles really shines the brightest. And they've all stepped up and won titles in those events. Rafa is a great mover. He has great doubles instincts and plays close to net like a lot of the Spanish guys. He's a poacher and he stays back and hits incredibly heavy forehands, which sets up his net man.
Federer is just effortless ability. He hits every shots so well, serve-and-volleys well and returns well. He's dangerous every time he steps on a court. And Murray's has got great hands and the British coach seems to be like a doubles genius and he’s helped Jamie so much. Those three guys, they're so strong if they played doubles full-time they'd be threats to win any tournament every time.
TN: You guys have played three notorious trash-talkers in recent history: John McEnroe, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek. Who is the biggest trash talker? Whose trash talk got to you and who made you laugh talking trash?
Mike Bryan: Stepanek, he's always hilarious. I mean, he's beat us and he's done dances. He's done the worm. But actually if you give it back to him, he doesn't take it very well.
Bob Bryan: A lot of those famous trash talkers don't like it when they're handed it right back. Stepanek, we're actually good buddies with him and he's very nice in the locker room. But that doesn't mean he doesn’t say some pretty biting comments under his breath or he'll do a stare down or try some things. But as long as you know it's coming and you're not surprised by it, it's not gonna throw you off too much.
Mike Bryan: Stepanek, sometimes he tries to bait you to get into that game, which many players fall prey to. Same with Paes. Paes is not too much of a trash talker. He's not afraid to take it at your head. Just like all doubles players sometimes when they get heated they'll smoke a ball at your head. But that's what you sign up for if you're on the doubles court and when you're active at net you're gonna get beaned a couple of times.
TN: Who is the best server you ever faced?
Mike Bryan: Wayne Arthurs or John Isner.
Bob Bryan: Yeah, Wayne Arthurs and Isner.
TN: You guys have played Karlovic.
Mike Bryan: Karlovic and Isner are very, very close. And Isner has a better second serve.
Bob Bryan: I think Isner may have a little bit better second serve, which makes him a very tough break in doubles. But then Arthurs had, for me being a lefty, the kick serve out wide in the deuce court. And Arthurs had amazing flexibility in his left arm and he could bounce that ball off the court away from my one-handed backhand, which made it pretty nasty.
TN: Who is the best returner you ever faced?
Mike Bryan: Best returner, I would say definitely Agassi.
Bob Bryan: Yeah, Agassi was an amazing returner. And Lleyton Hewitt, he's hard to find a weak wing on. And Jonas Bjorkman when he was playing his level of tennis was pretty nasty as well.
TN: Who is the most creative player you ever faced?
Mike Bryan: Fabrice Santoro had the most imagination on court and he can really hold you, drop you, lob you. He could do it all.
Bob Bryan: Yeah, Santoro knew how to play the angles. He was a magician.
TN: Who is the best rock star tennis player you ever hit with?
Bob Bryan: The rock star we remember the most, I would say I remember hitting with (Carlos) Santana, which was a cool experience. Hitting with him in San Jose was great. We hit with Elton John a few times and we’ve been to Gavin Rossdale’s house as well. Rock star tennis players, the Jensen brothers were the closest to thing tennis rock stars we ever played.