Bryans Give U.S. a Ray of Hope

There was one final piece of housecleaning before dispatching Spain’s doubles team of Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo on Saturday at Estado Olimpico.

Plan the victory celebration before match point.

Brothers Mike and Bob Bryan of Camarillo often seem to be reading each other’s minds, but Mike wanted to make sure his twin was on the same page. He held a brief consultation with Bob, returned to the baseline and served an ace, sealing the 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Davis Cup final, cutting Spain’s lead to 2-1.

Then came the chest bump between the twins, or as they’re known around here, Los Bryans.

“We didn’t want to break out the chest bump the first couple of sets because they [the crowd] would be riding us the rest of the match,” Mike said. “So we saved it for match point, kind of stuck a dagger in them.”

The Bryans were the picture of ruthless synchronicity, putting on a volleying clinic and, more important, keeping the U.S. in contention heading into today’s reverse singles. The Bryans are 5-0 in Davis Cup play, having won 15 consecutive sets.

And so, it will come down to the final day of the tennis season to determine the 2004 Davis Cup winner. Andy Roddick will face Carlos Moya of Spain, followed by Mardy Fish against Rafael Nadal, barring any last-minute changes.

Fish was the team motivator, trying to jump-start his teammates Friday night.

“We have a big board in our eating place ... and I wrote on there, ‘Remember the Red Sox,’ ” Fish said. “And they liked that. We knew coming in to Sunday we would most likely have at least one point with the Bryans.”

That’s exactly what happened. Nadal was pulled out of the doubles in favor of Ferrero, to keep Nadal fresh for a possible deciding singles match.

But the Bryans, displaying their status as the world’s top doubles team, exploited the weaker Ferrero, firing almost every ball in his direction, doing everything but kick clay in his face.

“Even if you had to bet money on today’s match, I’m sure you would have bet 1,000 Euros in favor of the Bryans,” said Jordi Arrese, Spain’s captain.

A shellshocked Ferrero held serve once in six attempts, and Robredo wasn’t much better, holding twice in five opportunities. Spain didn’t win a game until 32 minutes into the match and its first service hold came 58 minutes into it.

The Bryans were especially adept at covering the middle with the right-handed Mike playing the ad side and left-handed Bob on the deuce side.

No wonder Ferrero was seeing more than double.

“I just want to say, the Bryans is like if we play against four,” Ferrero said. “They are always on every side and it’s very difficult to play against them.”

Now, the U.S. will try to steal a victory against considerable odds. The last time a team came back from a 2-0 deficit to win the Davis Cup final was 1939, when Australia defeated the U.S. But the Bryans took the first step and among their impressive accomplishments was subduing a partisan crowd of 27,000-plus.

“Was there a crowd there today?” Fish said, joking.

The victory was special for several generations of Bryans. Carl and Alice Bryan, the twins’ grandparents who had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, were on hand. “They said, ‘Thanks for the great anniversary present,’ ” Bob said. “We missed Thanksgiving at their house, and this makes up for it.”