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U.S. OPENSeptember 4, 2014Mike BryanBob BryanNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK BRYAN-BRYAN/Lipsky-Ram 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Do you guys plant those guys to do the chant, or do you know those guys? MIKE BRYAN: We get them tickets. That's for sure. They're all Aussies. BOB BRYAN: They've been coming to our matches in Melbourne for years. They supported Roddick and were doing chants in our matches. We talked to them a few times down in Melbourne. We started following each other on Twitter and they sent us a massage: Hey, we're coming to the Open. Can you help us out with tickets? Yeah, if you bring the noise. Q. How many are there? MIKE BRYAN: Four, but sounds like 20. They're worth about three or four points a match. Q. I'm curious how you decide who serves first and why? MIKE BRYAN: Has to do with the sun. There is a nasty righty sun on the far side. BOB BRYAN: From noon until to 2:00. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. So there is really no way I could serve on that side. We usually look at the wind, too. If there is a cross breeze that's breaking for Bob's lefty serve, we try to do that. So sun is first priority and then the wind. Q. How different does this year feel to last year? MIKE BRYAN: Feels the same. BOB BRYAN: Last year was obviously crazier and we had this long streak going. So it was just a lot of built up pressure and kind of angst. We were very disappointed when we lost last year, but a little bit relieved that the whole run was finished and we could just play again without having that on our shoulders. This year feels like an added bonus. You know, if we can do it, it would, you know, add something really extra special to do Grand Slam title. We're not feeling the pressure to do it in any way. Because it's going to happen eventually. It's not like, Oh, my God. We're going to be stuck on 99 forever. We're both confident we'll knock down the title at some point. It would be cool to do it here. Q. What was will key to victory today? MIKE BRYAN: Just hang tough. We fought off a couple big break points I think at 3-All or 2-All in the third. 15-40, you know, we lose one of those points and they got the momentum. They were tough to break for over an hour. I think we broke the next game, so it was probably in the back of their head that they missed an opportunity. It was just gritty. Played just kind of loose game in the -- early in the second set which kind of flipped the match. We only broke twice. Just very fine margins. Q. Is there something in your mental makeup that allows to you win these tough three setters? You guys seem to win a lot of big points. What is it, the teamwork or just the mental makeup individually, that allows to you pull those through? BOB BRYAN: I don't know what it is. We try to keep our level high and pound on them with good quality again and again and again until we hope it adds up to a victory. If you swing all the little, you know, strategies and communication and margins, you swing that all in a positive way in your favor, you hope that's going to get it done. I don't know what the mental is. We've been playing in pressure situations our whole life. It's all relative. At ten years old we are playing the finals of the sectionals and Kalamazoo and NCAA finals and Davis Cup. We've seen these situations so many times that we're not feeling nervous. We're just, I think, able to think clearly and try to put the best tennis out there as possible. Q. I could hear them shouting. They would say, You, you. I couldn't hear you guys. Do you go by mental telepathy on this? MIKE BRYAN: We don't do a ton of talking in between points. We play better when we play quick and just flow. We use code words and a lot of signals, but we like to have the points go by pretty fast. When we're doing too much talking it's usually because we are like nervous or there is a twin that's more confident than the other twin. These not a good combination. We play better when there is not really a leader out there, we're just equals. Yeah, we like to play quick. Most of our matches have lasted an hour. This was an extremely long match for us. I think it was almost two hours. Q. Can you can guys imagine what it's going to be like when you're not playing together, when you're starting to go your own ways in life? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, we've already got a small taste of that now that we've moved out of the same house and married. We spend December apart. We have different practice sessions. So we've, yeah, got a small taste. I would rather be together. I don't know about Bob. What do you think? BOB BRYAN: I think we're the happiest when we're around each other and sharing experiences, whether that's, you know, him being an uncle, playing music together, you know, going to the Miami Heat games. You know, I think twins always have that bond. They're always kind of drawn towards each other in a weird way. So I think when all the dust settles we'll probably be in California or Florida together. Q. Do you get a little lonely? Like one half of you is missing? BOB BRYAN: We do touch base with each other when we're not in the same state. If something cool happens, you know, I, for some reason, want to call him and let him know, Oh, dude, LeBron just had a 360 windmill dunk. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, he's always kind of bragging who has the better time apart. It's like, Whoa, I just went to a concert. Check this picture out. BOB BRYAN: Well, we have the same taste in like humor and music. Certain stuff, weird things that make me laugh make him laugh and not necessarily my wife. So I like to just, Hey, dude, check this out. Q. You guys have played World TeamTennis for a long time. Is it 15 years now? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, yeah. We played since we started. Q. Is there anything about the pace of that that helps you? You say you move fast in those matches. Does that help tone you up for this tournament in any way? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, there is a sense of urgency in doubles now, even with the HB format where you play a loose game on your serve and lose a first set you're playing a breaker for the third. So that kind of translates -- it's even quicker in TeamTennis. You're racing to 5. We're just a team that likes to play fast. But with the quickened format our matches are short and you can't play a loose point. Q. You only played what, three matches for the Aviators? BOB BRYAN: We played four. Q. Four. What was that like as opposed to playing the Sport Times? BOB BRYAN: We've never played for the Sport Times. We played for the Texas Wild and the Kansas City Explorers. It was great in San Diego obviously being in California and having our friends and family there. It was awesome. I think WTT sometimes thrives in smaller cities when there is less going on. A lot of stuff going on in San Diego. You got the big time sports teams. Same with L.A. So I think smaller towns and communities really rally behind these WTT teams. So I think in Kansas City we had our best turnouts. We played downtown in that Kansas City, I don't know, kind of plaza. MIKE BRYAN: Mall. Q. What other teams did you play for? BOB BRYAN: We played for the Boise Sneakers back in... MIKE BRYAN: We played one year for Newport Beach. Q. With Dick Leach? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Q. Being on court and soaking in the atmosphere, at this point in your career are you trying to take in those moments more? Because you have such intensity. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of reflecting a little bit more. This late in our career I still think it's cool to play on Arthur Ashe stadium on TV. I'm trying to soak it in. But if you're soaking it in you're not really focused and staying in the moment. BOB BRYAN: Not staying in the moment. MIKE BRYAN: Today when we were walking out I was like, this is really cool walking out to a huge stadium like that. Don't get to do that very often. Who knows if we'll do it five or ten more times in our career. That's a special time for us. Q. Does Micaela still claim that you can kick ass in her tweets? BOB BRYAN: She's taking a little break from Twitter. Look for her. She's going to make a rebound here soon. Bobby Junior might step it up. He's got a quiet 1500 followers. Q. The semifinal, four Americans. Seems as if in the doubles the American men are -- obviously you are No. 1; Jack Sock won Wimbledon; Scott and Rajeev. A lot of success in the doubles draw. On the singles side not as much. Why is that? BOB BRYAN: I think because American men grew up on the faster surfaces. Europeans, South Americans grew up on the clay. Any you don't develop the volley as much. Rajeev Ram grew up in Indianapolis on indoor courts. He developed nice hands and good volleys. Lipsky was playing a lot indoors here in New York on probably quick courts as well. When you grow up on hard I think you develop that all-court game, big serve and volleys more. U.S. has a rich tradition in doubles. When I have players like Leach and Pugh to look up to, you know, it inspires you to play more doubles as juniors as well. Q. Patrick just left his role yesterday with player development. In your opinion, what could the American side do to grow the game on the singles side? MIKE BRYAN: It's a tough job. I mean, it takes time. I mean, who knows if he would've stayed in there longer -- I thought he was on the right page working with coaches. I mean, it's tough to hand pick kids and put them in a center and say they're going to all be champions. I think just the best chances are to let the coaches do their jobs. You know, great coaches like Mark Bay (ph) from Chicago, he's dealt with a lot of champions that have gone to college. How many Gold Balls have you won? MARK BAY: It's a big number now. BOB BRYAN: There are proven winners out there around the country that don't get a lot of notoriety out here on the pro tour in the whatever magazines. But they're doing great, great jobs and pumping out national champions and college players. They're successful for a reason. They're smart and know what they're doing. So why not help out those coaches and those programs instead of taking kids out of their comfortable environment and sticking them in a center without their parents and trying to make them pros in an uncomfortable environment? These are formative years. Teenagers and young adults. MIKE BRYAN: I think he was on the right page. BOB BRYAN: Trying to promote the game of tennis to reach as many kids as possible. Just getting the numbers up at the base will increase the chances to have the next Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras. I think that's the key: Just get racquets in kids' hands. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. Q. You guys would be in favor of everyone training in their individual geography? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. BOB BRYAN: There are situations where a national training center could work. Have the kids come to camp or for camps and expose them to those techniques of high performance training or, you know, the things that the pros do. Jose Higueras, these coaches are very educated. They have some great insight, and players can learn a lot from them. But I think as far as the day in and day out thing, I think the private sector coaches are successful. They're the successful ones that are doing great jobs time and time again that need to be rewarded and boosted with a little bit of help, financial help, to make their programs even stronger. Q. In the area of exposing young kids when they're first starting, the atmosphere of World TeamTennis play a role? Is it worth it or just a distraction? MIKE BRYAN: I think it's good. Bringing tennis to as many cities as possible. You know, small cities like Springfield, Kansas City, they don't have pro tournaments. I think it's a great atmosphere for fans to get close to the court and meet the players and see pro tennis. So doing as much of that as possible. Hopefully in the future there will be more WTT teams. Right now only seven, I think. You know, three-week season, it's probably not long enough. I think it's great. Q. Could you guys see yourself coaching after you're done? BOB BRYAN: I mean the travel is probably what we want to scale back on. Now that we're in the heat of it and flying all over the world, I think everyone wants to just chill out a little bit after the tour and spend more time at home with the family. So I can't see myself jumping out and coaching a pro right a way. But, you know, obviously there is something down in there (pointing to his chest) where you want to win. I mean, the adrenaline rush we get from these wins, we might feel something in the coaching side that will draw us in. Q. Even juniors? BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I think it would be fun to try to develop a junior into a big time layer and try to put our knowledge to use in some development of juniors. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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