Bryans Break Through in Men’s Doubles Final

Twins Bob and Mike Bryan knew what was at stake. Not only the U.S. Open men’s doubles title, but a dubious distinction as well.

The first canceled the second. They defeated Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Max Mirnyi of Belarus, 6-1, 6-4, in 57 minutes in the final here Friday, facing just one break point. It was the Bryans’ first Grand Slam victory this year, although they made the finals in the previous three.

“Yeah, we almost completed the anti-Slam,” Bob Bryan said. “That would have been a feat. So win or lose, it was going to be amazing.”

Said Mike Bryan: “It feels unbelievable. We didn’t want to go down as one of the only teams to lose all the Slams. It’s more kind of a relief. To do it here at the U.S. Open, it’s worth giving up five in a row.”

Since winning their first Slam, the 2003 French Open, the Bryans, of Camarillo, have lost in their last five Slam finals, including the French Open this year to Bjorkman and Mirnyi.

In particular, the loss to the unseeded team of Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie in the Wimbledon final was tough to take. Additionally, the Bryans have been front and center in the recently filed lawsuit against the ATP Tour regarding doubles changes. They didn’t talk about the prospect of losing all four Slams in the same year, Mike Bryan said.

“After Wimbledon, [we] put the sticks down for a little while, and we didn’t even want to bring it up,” he said. “It hurt pretty bad, especially losing to those guys who we thought would be kind of a gimme final.

“So we just dropped it. Once it wore off, we started working hard. It’s been a tough year. We played well, but we lost kind of the big matches: The Davis Cup match [against Croatia] and the three Grand Slam finals. So to win this, it’s a huge one for us, especially going into Davis Cup” on Sept. 23-25 in Belgium.