Bryan Brothers Shine On and Off Court

With all the glamour and glitz surrounding the dreamlike Rafael Nadal/Roger Federer championship match, it seemed as if absolutely nothing else was going on the last few days of Wimbledon. But now that the smoke has cleared and the dust has settled in the aftermath of Nadal/Federer VIII, it's clear that other substantial developments took place during the second weekend at the All England Club.

No, I'm not talking about Amelie Mauresmo's second major title, although her victory over the same woman (Justine Henin-Hardenne) who had robbed her the joy of winning a championship point at this year's Australian Open is a great story in its own right.

I'm not even talking about Jonas Bjorkman's Cinderella ride to the semifinals, or Rafael Nadal's shockingly swift ascension from clueless to second-best on grass, or Pete Sampras having nightmares about how miniscule his Wimbledon accomplishments will look by the time Roger Federer graces the lawns of London with one final stroke.

No, I'm talking about the Bryan Brothers.

Who?

You heard me: Bob and Mike Bryan, the high-flying, chest-bumping twins who, with their title last week, now own a career Grand Slam in doubles. The Bryan Brothers have now won the Australian Open, French Open, U.S. Open, and Wimbledon in doubles, a part of professional tennis of whose existence most sports fans — and even some tennis fans — are probably unaware.

Let them be unaware no more. As the summer season takes a momentary siesta in between Wimbledon and the outrageously entertaining series of U.S. hard-court tournaments that concludes with the U.S. Open, what better time than now to take a look at an oft-unrecognized duo that has done so much for the game both on and off the court?

Doubles, as you can guess from the woeful publicity it gets (Andre Agassi had hair the last time — until the Bryans' win on Sunday — a doubles match was shown on national television), is on the precipice of a steep decline. What is most ironic, however, is that the ATP instituted a new "Doubles Revolution" earlier this year. The new rules changes may very well be revolutionizing doubles, but certainly not for the better.

In most non-Grand Slam tournaments now, a super-tiebreaker is used to decide the third and decisive set. At other doubles events, sets are now first team to five games instead of six, with a tiebreaker contested at five-all instead of six-all.

In the words of John McEnroe, you cannot be serious! If eight games is a pro-set, then I guess what doubles teams are now relegated to are amateur-sets.

Furthermore, this "doubles revolution" has also proposed no-add scoring. In other words, a "sudden death" point at deuce determines that game's outcome.

In actuality, the only thing the rules are determining is the Sudden Death of doubles as we used to know it. The "revolution" aims to attract more singles players to the doubles circuit, as the new scoring changes make it easy for singles players to see that they will not be spending too many extra hours on the tennis court if they participate in doubles. The ATP has also eliminated doubles qualifying at tournaments and changed the doubles tournament entry system to favor singles players who want to play doubles.

"Once we retire, the doubles (only) players will pretty much be gone," Mike said earlier in the year. "They have to take a look at the system," he added, "if they want the guys who show the art of doubles with volleying, instead of everyone just pounding away at the baseline."

The Bryan Brothers, thank goodness, are leading the charge to change all this nonsense.

Their personal website is speckled with all sorts of petitions that viewers can sign in support of reinvigorating doubles on the ATP Tour. The Bryans also spearheaded this year's SaveDoubles.com ProAm in Houston and have launched a campaign called "Doubles Alley" for the cause.

Despite the Bryans' best efforts, questions abound concerning the fate of doubles on tour.

Those questions are for another place and another time, but I must pose one potentially unanswerable question now. Who needs the Bryan Brothers more: anyone and everyone involved in doubles, or the American Davis Cup team?

The Bryans are heating up at exactly the right moment for the USA. At a time when the American singles hopes are floundering on the ATP Tour (most notably Andy Roddick, Robby Ginepri, and to some extent, James Blake), the Bryans present our best — and only — hope of advancing to the Davis Cup final. Considering the state of our singles players, we cannot go into a Davis Cup tie expecting anything more than a split of the four singles matches. I mean, we could be playing some country like Brazil at home on hard courts and I would anticipate nothing more than a 2-2 score in the singles.

In this year's semifinals, the USA will take on Russia at Russia on clay. Needless to say, if the Bryans somehow fail to win the doubles point, Patrick McEnroe and company will be on vacation when the Davis Cup final is contested December 1-3.

That's some kind of pressure to put on the duo, but also the kind of pressure with which they are unflappably comfortable. After all, when they're not hard at work saving the fate of doubles, the brothers are busy competing in seven consecutive Grand Slam finals and counting. No big deal.

If you've ever had the opportunity to watch the Bryan Brothers in person, then I'm sure you would be first in line to join their fight to save doubles. Not only are they far-and-away the most exciting tandem on the tour, but they are also the best, as the brothers validated their No. 1 ranking last weekend at Wimbledon. If you're surprise at their ascension to the top of the doubles world, don't be. The brothers are no strangers to winning.

Bob and Mike have been on the fast track to success ever since enrolling at Stanford University in 1996.

They led the Cardinal to the national championship in 1997 and 1998, and also won the NCAA doubles title as sophomores. Having accomplished everything they possibly could through their first two years at Stanford, the brothers bolted for the pros.

In 2000, the Bryans reached their first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the U.S. Open. The team really took off the following year, as Bob and Mike won four titles, reached their first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, and finished the year ranked No. 7 in the world.

As 2002 came and went with no Grand Slam titles, but also no finishes worse than the quarterfinals at the four slams, it seemed as if the Bryan Brothers were on the verge of a major breakthrough.

They were. At Roland Garros in 2003, the Bryans captured the title with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Paul Haarhuis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. As of last week, the brothers have now won each of the four Grand Slams. They conquered the U.S. Open last year with a 6-1, 6-4 dismantling of Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, the team currently ranked right behind the Bryans at No. 2 in the world. Earlier this year, the Bryans completed the third leg of the career Grand Slam with a victory Down Under, defeating Leander Paes and Martin Damm in three sets. And of course, Bob and Mike wasted no time in adding the final piece to their Grand Slam puzzle.

Let's hope the Bryan Brothers don't stop now. As a tennis fan, I need them to restore dignity to the beautiful game that is doubles. As an American, I need them to give me hope that our country can still win the sport's grandest team-oriented prize even when our "biggest" stars are stinking up the court. And selfishly, I need them at any and all tournaments I am lucky enough to attend, so that when the tournament directors pack the singles stars on the stadium courts, I'll be able to watch two of the most exciting players in the game from some criminally-good seat on some criminally-obscure court.

If it were completely up to Bob and Mike, I'm confident all of those needs would be realized.

After all, considering the pair's currently sizzling pace, it seems that the only thing that can stop the brothers is the game itself.

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