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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 28, 2017

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

KONTINEN-PEERS/Bryan-Bryan

7-5, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Came down to one game in each set. Blinking at the wrong time or...
BOB BRYAN: I thought they kept the pressure on with their serving. Just had more speed on their serve, a little more accurate, higher percentage. 47% first serves isn't going to get it done for us. We're struggling a little bit with the colder conditions. We weren't clearing the net as much as we were all week.

I mean, look, those guys have been playing us tough for the last couple months. We're going to have to look at this tape and figure out some stuff down the road.

Q. Overall, what is your reaction leaving here at finalists?
MIKE BRYAN: It's obviously one round short. But it's a positive way to start the year. Final of a slam is nothing to hang your head about. We're going to take some positives out of it. It was fun being in another final.

But, yeah, we're just going to work harder, and hopefully this will set us up for a big year. Looking back, there's some positives.

Q. Without Davis Cup, you'll have extra time on your hands. What will you get up to?
BOB BRYAN: I'll probably be busy with my three kids. It's my turn when I get home. My wife's been holding it down.

But, yeah, we'll rest our bodies for a good week and then start gearing back up for Delray into Indian Wells.

Like Mike said, this is a positive. The last few years here we've been stopped short, been kind of just struggling to catch up during the year. But we got some confidence under our belt now. Hopefully it will propel us to some good stuff in 2017.

But, yeah, that's it.

Q. Do you see yourselves as part of the narrative, players in their 30s, big results can keep coming for people?
MIKE BRYAN: I hope so. We're not getting any younger. We're closer to 40 now. It's just great to see what Fed and Serena and Venus, all these players have done. Longevity in the sport is pretty cool.

I think especially in doubles you can go until you're 40. Guys are just setting the bar a little higher. So for these younger players, they can look at their career and say, Okay, we can play 20 years.

Yeah, it's just people taking care of their bodies, doing everything right.

Q. You've done a lot in your careers. Do you think about numbers and records? Is that a goal still?
BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, there was a period in our career where we were knocking down a lot of those records and hitting a lot of numbers. Now we kind of just want to do a little more of it, go out with a bang. We don't want to limp out of the game. We want to go out with results like this, hopefully go a little further.

Yeah, it would be nice to go out the way Pete went out. Win a slam. That would feel really good. We believe we can do it. That's why we're here. We're still enjoying the process.

This was two great weeks for us. We had some fun. We found our games again. We only can take positives out of this one.

Q. You both have talked about Rio as the finish line. People thought there was a chance you might hang it up. Is it just one title that's within reach that keeps you going?
MIKE BRYAN: We still like playing the game. We love working hard. We realize that this is maybe going to be one of our last years, maybe the last year. We don't know.

We're still talking about it. We had discussions in December. We're going to keep playing. Yeah, I mean, who knows, that could have been the last time on that court. But we're just going to take one week at a time and keep going.

Q. Something you discussed in December, hanging it up?
MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, we were throwing it out there, you know, when to stop. I think we're going to just devote one more hard year and start talking about it at the end of this year.

Q. The other day you were talking about when you were growing up the world in tennis was divided into an Agassi camp and a Sampras camp. You said clearly where you were at. Do you think the world today is divided into a Rafa camp and a Roger camp? Do you think there's a link between the Agassi and the Rafa camp with their charisma? Where do you stand?
BOB BRYAN: Oh, man, I'm going to take a side there, but nice try.

Like I said before, we're just blessed to be in this generation with these four great players. Rafa, Roger, that rivalry, we're just as excited as you are to sit back and watch it. Contemplating changing my flight to check it out, get the popcorn out.

This is what everyone wants to see. We're like little kids out there, too. We have so much respect for those guys. We're lucky to be around with them.

Q. Talk about their games, different games.
BOB BRYAN: That's what makes it so intriguing. Like Agassi-Sampras, two contrasting styles, two different personalities. One guy that looks like he's just effortless, the other guy the worker, baseliner, guy with an all-court game, flowing strokes. It's anyone's ballgame, you know.

Q. 10 of the last 13 slams have been two guys who never won a slam before winning them. What do you chalk that up to, different combinations coming together and being able to win a slam?
MIKE BRYAN: There's a new, younger generation of doubles players coming up. A lot of the legends of doubles are getting older, like us. Nestor, Paes, these guys, are on their way out. We kind of stopped dominating, it gave room for these teams to come in there.

Yeah, it's pretty much anyone's ballgame. There's 16 to 20 teams that can win a slam. Kind of like golf, now that Tiger is not dominating.

It's fun to see these guys win their first slam. They're deserving, yeah. We're hoping to get back in the mix, though.

Q. Does doubles need go-to teams that people can recognize or not? Not a problem?
BOB BRYAN: Not a problem. Doubles has its place in the sport. It's as strong as it's ever been right now. A lot of singles guys are in there. Indian Wells is going to be a tough field like it always is. Has its really important place in the Davis Cup. When the Olympics comes around, I think that's the toughest doubles draw in tennis.

A lot of different styles out there playing, a lot of new teams. We're going to keep doing what we can to make it bigger, but I think it's strong.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 28, 2017

Bob Bryan

Mike Bryan