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XXIX OLYMPIC GAMESAugust 16, 2008Bob BryanMike BryanBEIJING, CHINA BRYAN-BRYAN/Clement-Llodra 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How does it feel to have won an Olympic medal? BOB BRYAN: Oh, man, it feels incredible. You know, coming into the tournament, you know, obviously we wanted gold. I don't know, we probably would have been a little disappointed if we knew we were going to get third. But this feels unbelievable right now. To beat a great team like that, who have given us a lot of trouble, it's a really big moment for us. I mean, we're feeling very proud of ourselves right now. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, we're leaving China on a high. It's great to bounce back. Lost last night, less than 24 hours ago. We had to turn it back around pretty quick. We were obviously disappointed that we couldn't make the gold medal match, but to come back and, you know, leave with an Olympic medal, you know, help the U.S. totals, it's gonna be something really special to us to have that medal back at home. Q. Now that you've gone through this, why is Olympic tennis so difficult? It doesn't ever seem like it goes according to plan. BOB BRYAN: It's like Davis Cup, I mean, it's unpredictable. Some players rise to the occasion when they play for their country. Some players get a little nervous. I think overall the tennis has been spectacular this week. You know, everyone's been -- I think everyone's played amazing this week. It's different than a normal tournament. It's do or die. It's a lot of players' last Olympics. It's a lot of players' first Olympics and only opportunity to get a medal and become a superstar in their country. So, you know, for us, we've done it in Athens. It was an incredible experience. Dave Macpherson, our coach, has seen the Olympics on TV. I don't think you really truly understand what it's all about unless you're here. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, you didn't cry after we won Wimbledon, and you cried after we won this match. It showed us how meaningful a medal is, the whole Olympic experience. Q. Talk a little bit about the psychology, you're used to normally when you lose, that's it, but here you have to get back up to try to win a medal. BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I think that's why this bronze medal feels so good. You know, we won it. We won this medal. We earned it. You know, for us and I think for the tennis, it probably feels better than a silver. I think we'll be smiling on the podium. The silver medallist will just have a half smile or something. But, yeah, in tennis, when you lose you're on the next flight. You have a couple days to kind of turn it around. Usually the next day you're kind of not talking too much, and you're really disappointed. I thought we bounced back great. You know, we didn't sleep well obviously. We were kind of playing the match back in our head, thinking about all the opportunities we could have taken. But today we didn't feel sorry for ourselves. You know, we were a little edgy early obviously, coming after the disappointment. But I thought we did a great job of calming down in the second set and really sprinting towards the finish line in the third. Q. You've played some unusual teams here, teams that don't normally play together. This is a team you've seen and you know. Did that help at all in bouncing back in this one? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, we've had a lot of tough losses to these guys. Wimbledon final, as well as our last Davis Cup match. Obviously I think we played these guys six times. We probably played Llodra another 10 and Clément another 10 with other partners. We knew everything to expect. It's a little extra satisfying to beat this French team, that we've seen them -- BOB BRYAN: Get naked. MIKE BRYAN: -- strip down to their underwear on the Centre Court at Wimbledon. It's good in that respect to beat a great team like those guys, especially after a couple disappointments. Yeah, I mean, we played a couple makeshift teams here, so we knew what to expect from Llodra and Clément. Q. What are you going to do to celebrate? BOB BRYAN: Well, drug testing first (smiling). We're both looking forward to getting on that podium. I don't know what that's gonna feel like. We have no -- I don't know what it's going to be like. I've seen it on TV. But, you know, maybe I'll be the one crying (smiling). We'll maybe go out to a club tonight, party it up, pack our bags, head to New York. Q. Have you envisioned getting a medal? For other sports, everybody has that narrative in their life, they dream about being on that medal stand. You guys dream about holding the cups at Roland Garros or Wimbledon. Have you thought about the Olympics in that regard? MIKE BRYAN: Trust me, we've been thinking about it all year. This was a huge priority of ours, to come here and play well. Yeah, I mean, we've had dreams of being on the podium. Maybe not when we were younger, when tennis wasn't an Olympic sport yet. We always dreamed about winning Wimbledon. But, you know, I think tennis in the Olympics has become bigger and bigger. It means a lot to these guys now. To see Federer go down on his back after winning a semifinals of doubles, it shows how important it is to him, an Olympic medal. Yeah, I mean, to answer your question, yeah, for the last four or five years, we've been dreaming about being on the podium since we had the experience in Athens. End of FastScripts |
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