Bob & Mike Win 2nd Masters Series Title

08.17.2003

Bob and Mike Bryan claimed their fourth title of the year and the 13th of their careers when they defeated Australian duo Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley 7-5, 7-6(5) to win the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters doubles final in Cincinnati. The Bryans, who also won their first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros this year, extended their lead in the ATP Doubles Race and are certain to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup Doubles in Houston. It is their first title in Cincinnati.

The Bryans, who have won more titles than any other team of brothers, won their first Masters Series doubles title in Toronto last year. The Bryans have enjoyed an outstanding season at Masters Series level in 2003, reaching the final in Indian Wells and the semifinals in Miami, Hamburg and Canada.

The Bryans have now won at least four titles a year for three consecutive seasons. In addition to their Roland Garros and Cincinnati triumphs this year, the Bryans also won titles in Barcelona and Nottingham. In the Cincinnati semifinals the Bryans defeated 2002 ATP Doubles Race winners Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, who could have replaced the Bryans in first place in the 2003 Race had they won the title.

Bryans Rock Roland Garros!

06.08.2003

Americans become the most successful team of brothers in the Open era.

Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan are on the verge of claiming the No. 1 doubles ranking. These American twins became the most successful team of brothers in the Open era Saturday when they captured their first Grand Slam doubles title at Roland Garros. The Bryans defeated defending champions Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Paul Haarhuis 7-6(3) 6-3 to claim their 11th team title - one more than Tim and Tom Gullikson, who previously shared the record with the Bryans for most tournaments won by a team of brothers.

By winning the title, Mike and Bob move to No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in the Doubles Entry Rankings. Mike (4700 points) will be within five points of new world No. 1 Max Mirnyi (4705) when the new rankings are released Monday. With Mirnyi having 155 points to defend next week at the Stella Artois Championships (he reached the final last season), Mike has every chance of taking the No. 1 ranking. (Mike has just five points to defend from a first-round loss at the tournament last year.)

The Bryans' victory comes 10 years after American brothers Luke and Murphy Jensen won the Roland Garros title. They are just the third team of brothers to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the Open era. (Sandy and Gene Mayer also won Roland Garros in 1979.)

On Friday Mike won the mixed doubles title with Lisa Raymond. (Mike won the US Open mixed doubles title with Raymond last year, defeating brother Bob and Katarina Srebotnik in the final.)

In the first set of Saturday's final the Bryans were broken twice but on both occasions immediately broke back. The decision - against conventional wisdom - for left-handed Bob to play in the deuce court and right-handed Mike to play in the backhand court continued to prove a winner in the second set. The Bryans broke Haarhuis-Kafelnikov three consecutive times to close out the match, breaking to love in the final game.

Working with new coach Philip Farmer, the Bryans advanced to the final without losing a set, dropping five games or fewer in three victories and dropping seven games in two other matches, including their 6-4, 6-3 win over in-form duo Leander Paes and David Rikl in the semifinals.

The Bryans' two titles in 2003 have come on clay, having won Barcelona in April. They had played Kafelnikov twice this season, losing to the Russian and Wayne Ferreira in the final of the Pacific Life Open and the same pairing at the Telecom Italia Masters.

Just as they did in the Barcelona final, the Bryans wrote "Tim" on their shoes in memory of Tim Gullikson and ther history they share with the Gullikson brothers. "That's unbelievable, that we're considered one of the best brothers of all time," said Mike. "We're going to dedicate this match to them because they've been big inspirations. We know Tom and we knew Tim and they helped us out when we were little."

Bob said: "We were mentally strong and pulled together. We wanted this one so bad."

In 2002 the Bryans reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open, and won the Tennis Masters Toronto title.

Both Kafelnikov, 29, and Haarhuis, 37, were attempting to win a fourth Roland Garros doubles title. Kafelnikov has four Grand Slam doubles titles and was previously unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. Haarhuis, who has won each of the other Grand Slam doubles titles once, has six Grand Slam doubles titles.

THE BROS WIN BARCELONA

05.10.2003

 Bryan Brothers Win 10th Doubles Crown, Tie The Gullikson's Record and Are Now the #2 Team in the World.

Second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan captured their 10th career ATP doubles title by defeating Chris Haggard & Robbie Koenig 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Open Seat Godo in Barcelona.  They now join Tim and Tom Gullikson's record of ten wins by two brothers.

"The Gullikson brothers were a big example for us.  We had the chance to meet them and they gave us a lot of advice.  For this reason we wrote Tim's name on our shoes before the final and we dedicate this victory to him," said Bob.  "We are still young and hopefully we will be able to extend this record further.  We've played together since we were six and that is a big advantage for us as we know exactly what the other one is going to do."

At Barcelona they were seeded # 2 and defeated David Adams-Michael Kohlman, 6-1, 6-2; Jared Palmer-Josh Eagle, 6-3, 6-4; Gaston Etlis-Martin Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1); Robbie Koenig-Chris Haggard, 6-4, 6-3.

In 2003, besides winning this title, the twins have reached the finals of Indian Wells and Memphis, and the semis at Miami, Sydney and Acapulco.  The Bryans are 21 - 10 on the year and are on a 11 - 3 tear in the past month.

BROTHERLY AFFAIR

With the Barcelona title, the Bryan brothers tied the Gullikson brothers for the most career titles by a brother tandem in the Open Era (since 1968). Here are the leaders:

Bob and Mike Bryan 10
Tim and Tom Gullikson 10
Anand and Vijay Amritraj 8
Gene and Sandy Mayer 5
Alvaro and Jamie Fillol 4
Luke and Murphy Jensen 4

FEBRUARY IS GOOD FOR THE BROS.

02.27.2003

Bob played the Joplin Tournament during the first 10 days of February and he won 8 straight matches to take his third Challenger Title.  In the qualies he beat long time pal and rival Alejandro Hernandez of Mexico, 6-4, 6-1; Frenchman Maxime Boye, 6-4, 6-3; and Diego Ayala of Argentina, 6-1, 6-2.
 
In the Main Draw he beat Wild Card Jesse Witten of the U. of Kentucky, 6-0, 6-1; former UCLA #1 Eric Taino, 6-4, 7-5; Brazilian Alexandre Simoni, 6-0, 6-2; Sebastien De Chaunac of France, 7-6, 6-1; and long time SoCal rival and friend, Kevin Kim 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.  It was Bob's most dominating Challenger performance ever, with the lefty winning 103 games and losing only 47.  And with the title, Bob moved his singles ranking into the low 200s.
 
At the warm and friendly confines of the Memphis Racquet Club, the Bros. again battled their way to their third straight final there, before losing to the #1 team in the world Mark Knowles-Daniel Nestor, 6-2, 7-6.  It was the fifteenth final for Mike and Bob in their four years on the tour.
 
In the first round they beat Taylor Dent, who went on to win the singles, and Robby Ginepri, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2; the bested Mardy Fish-Jeff Morrison, 7-5, 4-4, retired in the second round; and in the semis the brushed aside Davide Sanguinetti-Sargis Sargsian, 6-3, 6-4.

In the upcoming weeks the twins will play in Acapulco, Del Rey or Scottsdale, Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, and River Oaks.  Thanks to everyone for their steadfast and generous support!