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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 29, 2009Mike BryanBob BryanLONDON, ENGLAND BRYAN-BRYAN/Mirnyi-Ram THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I suppose by the extent of your celebration, we begin to appreciate getting the No. 1, winning this means to you. BOB BRYAN: It means so much. It's pretty much what we play for now. I mean, that's the goal. Play well in the slams, but the ultimate goal is to finish No. 1. We felt like it was stolen from us last year. Now we kind of crept up on those guys and stole it from them this year. We feel like it's a little bit of a payback. But, you know, it was a trying year. We had a lot of disappointments. We had times in the year where we played unreal. But we had a lot of times almost in tears in the locker room after some big disappointments. Luckily we stayed solid. Even in those dark, dark hours we were making finals, making semis. We were kind of trudging ahead, staying in contention. That's why we were able to get over the top today. Q. Any particularly dark ones? BOB BRYAN: I can name five matches where it was ridiculous. MIKE BRYAN: In this format, we were up 9-4 in the third-set breaker in the finals of Cincinnati against Nestor and Zimonjic, who were competing for No. 1. That was a harbinger. We had eight or nine match points. We had five match points in the semis of the French. Lost 7-6 in the third. US Open semis. To come full circle, do it in the last tournament. Year, with so much riding on this one match, I mean, it's huge. We're going to be talking about this match for the rest of our lives. There's nothing sweeter than this. Q. Just checking the records, you've now won 56 titles, which puts you five behind the all-time best. One assumes that's something to aim for next year. BOB BRYAN: It's in our sights now. You know, to be even considered in the same sentence with the Woodies makes us proud. Those guys are our idols. You know, I assume if we stay healthy, it's gonna happen someday. Definitely want to honor those guys. That's the standard of doubles, you know. Those guys were the best players ever. To be mentioned with those guys is awesome. Q. Are you happy with the status of doubles compared to singles? It's progressing in the profile. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, to showcase doubles in this stadium was huge for doubles. It was on TV, 16,000 people watching. It doesn't get any better than that for doubles. Over the last few years, I think doubles is gaining a little bit of notoriety. Singles players are playing. The scoring format is exciting. They're playing more matches on stadium court. We're happy with the way it's going. To see this atmosphere for a doubles match is unbelievable. BOB BRYAN: This is definitely going to give doubles momentum. Ultimately, TV is what makes or breaks the popularity. For all these 16 guys to get their faces on TV, you know, fans are going to start connecting to these players. If guys are famous, fans are going to come out and see you. Q. I'm from Serbia. Do you realize by taking down Zimonjic from No. 1, you've created one hell of a welcoming in doubles in Serbia for Davis Cup. MIKE BRYAN: They're going to be coming after us. Zimonjic is a great guy. Had an incredible year. Win a Grand Slam, five Masters Series, three 500s. That's unreal. Any other year, that's No. 1 status. I definitely want to congratulate those guys on an incredible year. Our games rose at the last minute and we kind of just clipped them at the finish line. That's it. Q. What about the Davis Cup final? MIKE BRYAN: We're really looking forward to that. We'll have to bring our bulletproof vests. They have an unbelievable team on a surface that doesn't really favor the Americans. We're going in there as the underdogs. It's kind of a unique experience. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be big. Doubles points is going to be huge because it's going to be tough to win three singles points. Q. Because of the very nature of doubles, the points are so quick, it's sometimes hard to pick up whether you are getting better at all. Do you believe individually and collectively you're improving? BOB BRYAN: I definitely think we are improving. I think we have a coach that's as good as anyone in the world. Maybe the best doubles coach in the world. He works incredibly hard studying doubles, watching every team. He has a notebook this thick with ideas, keys. He's always coming out to California. We're just working all year. I do think we're getting better. I think Mike's serve has improved in the last three years a lot. My returns the last two matches was the best I returned in a while. For that to happen in big moments shows confidence in our games, and the holes are closing up. Q. You've been together for a while. Mirnyi and Ram teamed up this past year. How they played against you, how competitive it was... MIKE BRYAN: It was a tough match. I thought they played great. It was twice the match it was in the round robin. We both kind of rose to the occasion the first set. It could have gone either way. They won more points in the first set. I thought, you know, we just, I don't know, won the big points. We scraped through it. We're a front-running team. They like to play ahead. That first set was huge. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what to say. Max returned great. Andy played awesome. So, yeah, it made for some great rallies out there. Feel fortunate to come out on top. They're a great team. It's a shame they're splitting up next year. But all credit to them, they had a great year. End of FastScripts |
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