Twin brothers Robert Charles Bryan (Bob) and Michael Carl Bryan (Mike) are American professional tennis players. Between 2005 and 2006, they set an Open Era record by competing in seven consecutive men's doubles Grand Slam finals, three of which they won. On February 20, 2010, they recorded their Open Era record 600th match win by defeating Taylor Dent and Ryan Harrison in the semi-finals of the Delray Beach ATP 250 tournament.
Born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being older by two minutes, and Bob taller by 3 cm, The Bryans, as they are known, have won 60 tour titles (second only to The Woodies' 61 titles). They have a career Grand Slam that includes victories at the French Open (2003), US Open (2005, 2008), Australian Open (2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010), and Wimbledon (2006). They won the Tennis Masters Cup Doubles tournament thrice (2003, 2004 and 2009), and have been finalists in 38 other occasions. They won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They also won the 2007 Davis Cup along with Andy Roddick and James Blake.
The twins are part of the United States Davis Cup team, with a 16–2 record in doubles matches. Their two losses were to Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4 and in 2008, to France's Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Both brothers have played Davis Cup singles matches.
Bob and Mike won their first doubles tournament at age 6, in a 10-and-under event. They had an outstanding junior career, winning well over a hundred junior doubles titles together. They won the 1991 USTA National Boys' 14 Doubles Championships, the 1992 USTA National Boys' 14 Clay Court doubles title, the 1994 USTA National Boys' 16 Clay Court doubles title, the 1995 USTA National Boys' 18 Clay Courts doubles title, the junior doubles title at the 1995 Ojai Valley, California Tennis Tournament, and the first-ever Easter Bowl boys' 18 doubles title.
The Bryans made their professional and Grand Slam debut at the 1995 U.S. Open, where they lost in the first round to Grant Connell and Patrick Galbraith.
Their first tour win came in 1998, at the Atlanta ATP tournament, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, over Trevor Kronemann and Dave Randall. They reached the quarter-finals and lost to Grant Stafford and Kevin Ullyett. They made the semi-final of the ATP tournament at Washington, D.C. and won two Challenger tournaments, at Aptos and Burbank.
In 1999, the twins reached their first ATP final at Orlando, falling in the finals to Jim Courier and Todd Woodbridge, 6–74, 4–6. They reached the semi-finals at Scottsdale, and the quarter-finals at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. The brothers were successful on the Challenger Circuit, winning three tournaments (Amarillo, Birmingham, Burbank), and reaching the finals in four others.
2001 was the first real successful season for the Bryans as they captured four titles (Memphis, Queen's Club, Newport, Los Angeles) in five finals (were finalists at Washington to Martin Damm and David Prinosil).
2003 was a landmark season for the Bryans. They reached their first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, where they also won their first Grand Slam title, beating Paul Haarhuis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-6 (7-3) 6–3 in the final, and did not drop a set all through the tournament.
In 2005, the Bryans reached all four Grand Slam finals, and though they lost in the first three (Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon), they won the second Grand Slam of their career at the U.S. Open in front of cheering home fans. They also won tournaments at Scottsdale, Queen's Club and Washington ATP, and made it to the finals at Memphis, Monte Carlo TMS and Rome TMS.
In 2006, the twins won the first Grand Slam of the season, the 2006 Australian Open, where they beat Leander Paes of India and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the final.
2007 saw the Bryans win 11 titles.
The Bryans then ended their title-drought at Masters Series since 2008 by winning the Rome Masters defeating compatriots John Isner and Sam Querrey in the final. They are currently just one title shy of The Woodies' all time record of 61 doubles titles.
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