Bob & Mike Claim
Second Memphis Crown

02.21.2004

Top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan captured their second title of the year and their second Kroger St. Jude title at the Racquet Club of Memphis with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over unseeded South African duo Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard.

The Bryan brothers, who were appearing in their fifth straight final on the ATP circuit (Tennis Masters Cup Doubles in Houston, Adelaide, Sydney, Australian Open), also were appearing in their fourth consecutive final in Memphis. The Americans, who have a 16-2 record so far in 2004, captured their first career title together in Memphis in 2001 and reached the final again in 2002 and '03, losing last year to Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. They extended their Memphis record to 15-4 after the win.

"Memphis was kind of our starting block," said Mike. "When we came here in 2001, we were 65 in the world and that was our first title. At the end of the year we finished in the Top 15 so it's been up ever since."

Bob added: "We're just building confidence now that we're the No. 1 team. Last year we were No. 1 for a little while but now we really feel like the No. 1 team and feel like we're the team to beat. If we play well, we're not just trying to hold it, we're still going for our shots and we're not afraid to lose. That's our philosophy."

The title represented the 16th of Bob's career, while brother Mike captured his 17th. "We're on a roll right now, said Mike. "We have tons of confidence. We did well at the Masters Cup, took a good break, refreshed and started working hard and the roll started in the first week of the year, winning in Adelaide. It's all coming together for us. Probably the confidence from being No. 1 last year. We're on top and we want it to stay that way."

DAVIS CUP
Mike & Bob win doubles to help USA beat Austria

0?.0?.2004

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Mike & Bob are Finalist
in Sydney

01.??.2004
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 Mike & Bob continued to roll in the land down under, winning their 12th match in a row and reaching their 3rd straight doubles final.  In Sydney this week they have defeated the Aussie Team of Nathan Healey-Jordan Kerr, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3; Jonathan Ehrlich of Israel and Sebastian Prieto of Argentina 6-4, 6-7, 7-5; and Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Yves Allegro of Switzerland, 5-2, ret.
 
On Saturday, the Bryan Bros. will take on Todd Woodbridge of Australia and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden.  You will remember that Woodbridge-Bjorkman beat Mike & Bob in three sets in the finals of last September's US Open , while the twins returned the favor at Houston in November at the year ending Masters Cup.

BRYAN BROS. KICK OFF 2004 CAMPAIGN BY WINNING ADELAIDE

01.14.2004

With Shegeki written on their shoes, Mike & Bob won Adelaide on Sunday, by defeating the French tandem, Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement, 7-5, 6-3.   It was their ninth straight win, second straight title, and fifteenth doubles championship of their career.
 
In the firsr round they beat the Aussie Wild Card team of Todd Reid-Chris Guccione, 6-3, 6-3.  They then turned back Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Graydon Oliver of the US, 6-4, 6-1 and in the semi finals they defeated Bahamian Mark Merklein and American Vince Spadea, 6-1, 6-3.
 
The Bryan Twins now journey to Sydney where they will again be the #1 seeds.  Following Sydney Mike & Bob will play the Australian Open in Melbourne and then return to the US to play the Davis Cup Match against Austria at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.