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DAVIS CUP QUALIFYING: USA VS UZBEKISTANMarch 3, 2020Mike BryanBob BryanHonolulu, Hawaii THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Last swan song. What is the best kind of name for this last tour? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, this is our swan song, our last hurrah in Davis Cup. We played our last one before this a few years ago, lost in Portland. We wanted to kind of redeem ourselves, play for Captain Fish. It's not a bad place to come to, Oahu. When we saw that, we wanted to put our names in the hat. Excited be back, part of a young team, the next generation. I think they're half our age, Fritz and Opelka and Tommy Paul. Yeah, good to be back. BOB BRYAN: Yeah, it's an honor to represent the USA again. Captain Fish was our teammate for many years. He helped us in that run in 2007 when we held up the Cup. For him to ask us to come back, it's a big honor. We're excited to be here. Davis Cup has meant everything to us throughout our career. We've had some of our best memories playing for this team. So we're excited to do that in our last year on tour. Q. 2007 is obviously the last one, you sealed it. You've been able to see it firsthand how special that was. Now you see these young guys trying to get Team USA back to that level, was that part of it, being their mentor? BOB BRYAN: Yeah, look, we're almost 20 years older than this young crop. They're really making an impact right now. They could be 12 to 18 months away from winning a Grand Slam, one of these guys. We think they have the potential. If we can come here and show them the passion of Davis Cup and what it meant to us, instill that in them, I don't think we need to, they already have the fire. They showed it in Madrid. We were watching from the couch. Fritz, Opelka, Paul, they're going to be the heart and soul of this team for many years to come. Q. Have you been to Hawaii before? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, we've been to Hawaii, but never been to Oahu. 24 hours here, we've gone to the beach, we've seen the city. It's beautiful. We're going to take some time and go hike along that crater, maybe go to Pearl Harbor. We want to take it all in. Q. Expectations for this, to get to the final group? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, our goal is to move through this team and get the team to Madrid, where the finals is at the end of the year. Yeah, we're hoping to do our job in doubles. Doubles is a swing point. It's a big one. We want to get the point for the team on Saturday. We feel like we have the firepower to get it done. They're a tough squad. We traveled over there a few years ago. It wasn't easy. We expect a tough match. Q. Have you had a chance to kind of look back and realize how successful you have been at this point? BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, look, we're lucky to be a part of this, the great history the U.S. has had in Davis Cup. We played our first one in '03 on the road. That was for Patrick McEnroe. Andy Roddick and James Blake and Mardy Fish, we all thought about Davis Cup all the time. We really wanted to win it. We worked hard. We dedicated our schedules to peaking at the right times for those matches. Finally we hoisted the trophy. It's the highlight of our career, clinching that match in Portland. I know Andy Roddick would tell you the same thing. It's meant everything to Mardy Fish. He really went after the Davis Cup job because it's special to him. He's out there on the side of the court. He's giving us his knowledge. I think it's going to be a good mix, a good squad. But we can't underestimate the Uzbekies. They're a solid team. Q. Given the history in Davis Cup, does it seem like a natural fit given thinks the farewell tour, to have this? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I think we wanted one more taste of playing for our country. We just loved it over our career, playing our first tie in '03, playing so many. It's just been so special to us. Bob said the highlight of our career is winning in Portland. We just love being a part of teams. When Mardy asked us, we thought about it for a few minutes, then said, We're in. Also really wanted to play for Mardy. We've now played for three captains, but Mardy was a teammate, such a good friend. It's going to be fun sitting on the bench next to him. Q. Were you surprised when Mardy called you guys? MIKE BRYAN: To tell you the truth, yeah. When the phone rang, I looked down at it. Mardy is calling to catch up. But then he asked us to suit back up, after we told him we'd retired. It's very cool, it's an honor to be asked to do it. We want to try to leave with great memories in Davis Cup. If we can win our last match, that would mean a lot to us. Q. You mentioned watching it on the couch, Madrid. Did you kind of miss it? BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, look, Davis Cup, it's brought a lot of energy to our games. We've had some of our greatest highs and some of our greatest lows playing in Davis Cup. It's always fun. It's always great to come here and prepare for that goal. We get to these ties a week early, we have dinners, play games, just have a great time, have a great week of work. We work on our bodies. It's always propelled us into the rest of the season. Look, this is a perfect way to go out, be on home soil in a beautiful location of Honolulu. We brought our families. This is one that we didn't want to miss. Q. How different is the vibe when you're in a team competition as opposed to a regular tour event? BOB BRYAN: Yeah, it's a little more stressful, to be honest. It's more pressure. We're not just playing for each other and ourselves. If you lose, you let down a lot of people. We have an amazing staff, stringers, masseuses, doctors, a lot of people that have flown over here and are devoting their time to helping us be at our best. We want to do our job. It's something we take very serious. Q. Coming off of a win. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. Q. How important has that been for you guys, be playing well at this moment? MIKE BRYAN: It's always good to come in with a little confidence. We haven't played much since the US Open. We stopped in September last year. Only two tournaments under our belt. To win the last one, we feel good. We feel like our bodies, minds, games are in the right spot to play well. I don't feel like we're playing any less than we did five, ten years ago. I feel like we still have some good stuff in our tanks. Q. Important to go out on a high level? BOB BRYAN: We've talked about retirement for a couple years. One of the reasons we're choosing to go out this year is because we do feel like we're still playing great ball. We still feel like we're at a high level. We don't want to retire on fumes and fall off the rankings. We want to go out with wins like this, this weekend. It would be awesome. We want to try to win a Grand Slam. Yeah, we want to leave a stamp on tennis, kind of leave like we came in. Q. Captaincy in your future? BOB BRYAN: Mardy, he's a great captain. I would love to see him have this job for a long time. Who knows down the road if an opportunity like that would ever come along for us. I think Mardy is a perfect team leader for this. Q. Put any concerts on this week? BOB BRYAN: Mike just bought a ukulele. I have a ukulele that I bought last week to get ready for the trip. We've already learned the chords. No concert scheduled (laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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