DAVIS CUP - AUSTRIA Vs. USA

February 7, 2004

Patrick McEnroe

Bob Bryan

Mike Bryan

MIKE BRYAN: I don't know what happened there. I think the nerves got me a little bit there because I probably missed that forehand volley once a year, so I thought Bob is going to put that overhead away but it came back and I wasn't ready, and I was thinking about closing out the match and not thinking about the shot. So, you know, it's going to happen. But we rebounded, we broke at Love, and served it out, so, finished strong.

BOB BRYAN: Feels great. Doubles doesn't get that spotlight, we are on TV five times a year, and, you know, it's great to have a day dedicated to you and to doubles, and ESPN is a huge stage, and we just want to go out there and play our games, show some excitement, and show that we love playing doubles.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, almost live, I was blowing my own mind just looking back there going whoa, 139, that's my fastest serve by the way. But I talked to the guy, there's some technology it's legit.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, my last record was 138.

BOB BRYAN: US Open. A couple of years ago.

MIKE BRYAN: I don't think there's anything like Davis Cup. We played at Stanford, we had a lot of fun there, but coming here playing for your country, you know, the anticipation of it is rough waiting the first two days before the match, I got -- lost a lot of sleep, couldn't really eat. Once you get out there, I mean, we just feed on it. We love the crowd, Pat is on the bench pumping us up, so.

CAPTAIN McENROE: That takes a lot. (Laughs).

CAPTAIN McENROE: Exactly.

MIKE BRYAN: I love it. I am looking forward to the next three matches.

BOB BRYAN: He's a great supporter of ours. For the last three years he's been coming to our matches and we love the guy. He is a great coach. He hits the ball really well so he can practice with us. He plays doubles with us all week and --

CAPTAIN McENROE: Take my beatings.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, he takes his beatings, but he knows so much about the game and like I said, he just keeps us loose, and, you know, the brother chemistry is pretty delicate and he knows how to work it. So we don't get on each other, he keeps --

CAPTAIN McENROE: I have some experience (laughter).

CAPTAIN McENROE: They are the No. 1 team in the world. They have gotten better and better every year that I have seen them and especially in the last year. So the short answer to that is there is no question that it's validated based on what they have done on the Tour, and based on what obviously what they have done in the matches. I think it also is really relaxing to the other guys, you know, the other guys feel like they can really focus on what they need to do and they know that come Saturday, these guys are going to be ready to go. There's no doubt in my mind now that these guys give us the best chance of winning the doubles, of winning the point. To me, that outweighs having singles guys step in, for instance, like we have done before and played doubles. These guys are so good now, that I think it gives us that luxury.

CAPTAIN McENROE: It's always gone back and forth. Most countries, quite honestly, haven't had the luxury to be able to do that. We didn't for a long time. We did back in the '70s and the '80s and even before then, we also had the luxury of my brother being great in singles and doubles, to do both. So -- but in the history of when the US is going to win the doubles, we pretty much never lose in the tie. So now having these guys have some experience and step up and do what they have done, is big. But, look, other countries would like to have it, but they don't all have the depth that we have and we have got a great tradition of great doubles teams in Davis Cup. I think we got the start of another one now.

CAPTAIN McENROE: That's what it's all about, these guys general genuinely like being here and like being with each other. They enjoy it. They love the week, and they get a little antsy toward the end of the week because they want to get out there and play. We got a good group of guys. Marty Fish was here, and he knew he wasn't going to play and he still wanted to be here and be part of the team. To me, that's a big statement about this core of guys that we have. My goal was -- is obviously to win the Davis Cup to try to help us win it, but to do it year after year, I mean, to have a chance to win it every year. Obviously now with -- there's so much depth and so many quality teams out there, it's going to be difficult to win it year after year, but I think with these group of guys, supporting each other, I think we can realistically say every year we can win it each year. I certainly feel that way about this year.

CAPTAIN McENROE: Talking about for the doubles?

CAPTAIN McENROE: Look, I take everything into account. I think all those you know, the four guys that I basically looked at hard in Taylor, Dent, Marty Fish, Robby and James Blake are all pretty close. And they are all continuing -- they have all played well in spirts in the last year. So I am just looking forward for who is the guy who is hot at the time, who is -- if one of them steps up, all of a sudden is 10 in the world, then it's a different story. I think they all have them -- I think they have the potential to do that. But it's really going to come down to who I think is playing the best at the moment and give us the best chance to win that match. The matchup of who we are playing against obviously is a factor, the surface, there's a lot of factors that go into it. But I am going to continue to do it the way I have done it, which is watch them all closely, and see who is playing the best at that point in time. And hopefully we can continue to have the extra guy there in case, if something happens during the week of practice and supporting the guys because I feel that's really important not only for winning each match, but for what we are trying to do long-term because the reality is I think we are going to need all those guys at some point to win big matches for us.

MIKE BRYAN: We like to stay positive out there. I think that's, you know, the advantage we have over a lot of teams, we bring some energy, you know, you don't see those guys jumping around, we love to move our feet, you know, keeps us ready for every point. And then we love to throw that chest pump in too. If you look at the front cover of TENNIS MAGAZINE there's a chest pump. So we saved it for the end of the match because we are cruising, but, you know, we got it from the Jensens, and I think we are -- in big moments we are going to throw that in.

BOB BRYAN: Well, I was a little hesitant doing it. I was the last one to go, Andy is like, okay, we are going to lose then, all right, so do it up.

BOB BRYAN: Surface was good, no. Pat asked us what we wanted before and they made it just like we wanted it so it was good. It wasn't bad for us.

CAPTAIN McENROE: Unfortunately Marty can't play which I am a little disappointed by the rules because I would have loved to have had him play. He can't play because you have to have one of the four players who played. So I am a little disappointed by that rule, be honest. I think that's a mistake. I think Marty being here, I really wanted to give him the chance to play. So we'll talk about it tonight. I think Robby will play for sure. We'll see how Andy is feeling if he wants to go. I know these guys are pumped to play singles, so if we are going to throw one of them out there, we will do that.

CAPTAIN McENROE: That would even be better.

BOB BRYAN: It was a huge motivation for us, every match we played was in the back of our mind when Pat came up, you know, at first it was a bit of pressure, but, you know, as we kept seeing him there, it became great, we like the support. Maybe the first year we are like okay, we have got to do it now, we have got to win every match, but, you know, we settled into it and ---

CAPTAIN McENROE: They saw me all the time that they get used to it.

MIKE BRYAN: That's one of our biggest goals, Davis Cup and the Olympics. Olympics only comes around once every four years, and (inaudible) walk out in the opening ceremony with all those athletes, we are really looking forward to that, just put in a good showing, maybe win a Gold Medal, you know, we are -- I think we are going to be one of the favorites, so I mean, if you get a Gold Medal, I mean, that's just icing on everything. That's, you know, you show a gold medal to any one in the world, they know what it is. Some people don't know what Wimbledon is but gold medals is unbelievable.

BOB BRYAN: Yeah, like I told Pat before, I slept like a baby before the Australian Open final. And then last night I was tossing and turning all night. It's Davis Cup, different ballgame, more nerves, you don't know what is going to happen, you are here all week and you are practicing, chomping at the bit, you want to get out there. Once we get on the court, you feel like a lot better than just sitting in the room watching everyone else go, so.....

MIKE BRYAN: That's the oldest question in the book. I mean, we have, you know, we are with each other 24/7. Most of time we stay in the same room together at tournaments so I mean, we are always talking about doubles, you know, I can basically read his mind out there since we have been playing together since we are six years old and we played thousands of matches, so we know better than most teams out there, doubles is -- communication is key, and we communicate better than most teams. And, you know, he's never going to give up on me and I am never go going to give up on him. We are going to go through this together. We are going to build week to week. If I play bad, I am not scared that he's going to dump me. I am not going to dump him. And sometimes go back to the room we are going to box it out too. That's spices it up a little bit.

BOB BRYAN: I don't know about the matchups. They are both tough teams. I think we wanted Sweden to win just because we don't want to go Down Under again. We just got whack from Australia five days ago.

BOB BRYAN: Woodbridge, they lost yesterday, but that's a tougher team, I think Woodbridge is the greatest doubles player of all time. Bjorkman plays with Woodbridge and he's on the other side of the net. So they are both tough teams. It's going to be -- we are going to have our hands full.

BOB BRYAN: Does surprise me a little bit down in Australia.

CAPTAIN McENROE: For these guys because they are all so young it's probably more important how well they are playing at the time. I think they are all gaining confidence and now they have all gotten some experience playing. I don't think there's enough history probably between these guys, you know, whomever will be played against to say hey, this guy is 5 and 0 against such and such. Davis Cup, to me, is about, you know, it's hard to step in and play in Davis Cup if you haven't played a lot of matches and, you know, won a lot of matches. It's a hard place to sort of get out of a rut if you are not playing well. So I think in that -- in this instance it would be more based on who is playing well. I mean, I want to pick the guy who is playing the best. And who is -- who I think is playing the best and has the most confidence. Obviously if I feel like it's a real tough call, you know, between two guys or both playing great, one guys got a little better edge maybe, I feel head to head, then I take it all into account. I have got to think about all those factors surface, everything. But I am probably more -- first thing I am going to look at is who is playing the best at that time who is playing well .

CAPTAIN McENROE: Thanks for reminding me, Bud. No, it's not a relief. At home, we have never lost a tie since I have been the captain so obviously felt confident coming in, we have had some disappointments obviously, but long-term I feel really good about where we are, you know, and where we are headed. So it's nice to get through the first one, but certainly my goal coming into this year wasn't winning the first round. I think we can win it, I think we can win the whole thing. Obviously it's going to get tougher each match, but I am happy to be moving forward. I didn't want to lose in the first round at home, that's for sure.