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WIMBLEDONJuly 8, 2012Mike BryanLisa RaymondLONDON, ENGLAND BRYAN‑RAYMOND/Paes‑Vesnina THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Talk about the entire match and the excitement of winning something special at Wimbledon. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, it was a blast playing with Lisa all week. Obviously the match was up and down. We could have closed it out there in straights. Unfortunately, I got broken. We had match points. She's pretty resilient. We fought through the adversity. She kept raising her game and kind of carried me through the finish. LISA RAYMOND: I don't know about that. Q. Lisa, what is it like playing with one of the great doubles players on the planet? LISA RAYMOND: Oh, you know, it's funny. When we were sitting there before we got our trophy, I said, I feel like I play so much better with Mike because I have such a great time with him on the court. He just brings the best out in me. Our personalities get along well. I have so much faith in his return, in his serve, his volleys. And we're friends. It's a blast out there with him. It's great to win another title with him. MIKE BRYAN: Vice versa. Q. Talk about the second set serving for it at 5‑4. MIKE BRYAN: We like our chances in that position. She hit some good returns. LISA RAYMOND: No, I mean, they played a great game. MIKE BRYAN: They threw some lobs up. There's nerves. I was kind of playing fast, speeding it up. I really wanted it. I haven't won a mixed doubles title since we won the French in '03. LISA RAYMOND: Since he stopped playing with me. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, we stopped playing because I didn't play a ton of mixed. It's good to rekindle a special bond we have. We're looking forward to hopefully playing the Olympics. That's why we jumped in here. She emailed me first, and I'd like to play with the No.1 player in the world anytime. Q. You regrouped pretty well in the third thought, huh? LISA RAYMOND: We did. We came out with an early break. We knew we had to. We knew we couldn't think about that match point lost and serving for it, whatever. Again, like Mike said, they came up with the goods when they needed to to win that set. We regrouped. We broke and got broken again. We broke again. I think our energy was really good in the third. That was really important for us to just get right back in the saddle and be that positive. Q. Even though you didn't win with your brother, how do you assess this overall tournament with both of you? MIKE BRYAN: I'm leaving with a smile on my face. Bob is out of here. He's probably in Miami right now. A little disappointing losing in the semis. When you leave with a Wimbledon trophy, it's pretty sweet. He's going to be happy for me. He's going to go home, check it out on the computer or whatever, and he'll be the first one to call me. But it's a blast playing mixed with one of the greatest players of all time. She's ridiculous. She volleys better than I do. LISA RAYMOND: I pay him to say that. MIKE BRYAN: I really admire her game. She's so talented. I mean, she can do everything. She's getting better with age, which is awesome to see. Q. Lisa, this probably took the sting off of that loss to Venus and Serena, too, huh? LISA RAYMOND: You can't really say it was a sting. When you play them you got to bring your best game. You got to bring your best tennis. For a set we did it. For a set we were right in there. I think if we could have really battled early in that second, who knows what could have happened. I don't think Serena really felt a hundred percent that day. Venus picked up her slack. Venus played great. Throughout the tournament, watching them play their previous matches, Venus was the one that was the one to pick on if you were going to pick on one of them. So, I mean, look, if you're going to lose, you want to lose to the eventual champion. Like Mike said, I'm leaving with a smile on my face. Q. Lisa, what's driving you at this point? LISA RAYMOND: Sitting up here, winning titles. I made a conscious effort a couple years ago to get fit again, to refocus on my tennis and give it another shot. I thought that if I could compete at this level, if I could win slams, I'd want to still be out here. I hooked up with Liezel. We've been doing really well together. It's all about slams, it's all about winning titles, being No.1, hopefully winning a medal in the Olympics. To be able to come out here and win a Wimbledon title with Mike, I mean, this feels great. To have moments like this, this is what drives me. Q. Talk about the rain, what that was like. MIKE BRYAN: That was deafening for a game or two. It was really loud. I don't think we played a match where you can't really hear the ball. It's tough to think. LISA RAYMOND: It was wild, crazy. MIKE BRYAN: It threw us off. I don't think we broke that game. That had to be the hardest rain of the tournament. It was coming down hard. I saw a couple leaks. LISA RAYMOND: I don't know if I would say that too loud. MIKE BRYAN: There were a couple drips. LISA RAYMOND: Even when he was serving for the match in the third. MIKE BRYAN: I slipped a little bit. LISA RAYMOND: Like you said, there was so much rain. Q. You feel good about the roof staying up? Sounded like the weight of that rain... MIKE BRYAN: It was sunny for a while. We were like, Why is the roof closed? And then it pours like that. LISA RAYMOND: That was pretty cool. Yeah, obviously playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon, but to play indoors, I had never done that here, so that was a cool experience for me. Q. Lisa, why did you decide to email Mike? LISA RAYMOND: Why? Well, because... MIKE BRYAN: I've been playing hard to get for a while. LISA RAYMOND: He has been playing hard to get for about eight years now. It's funny. It was like a running joke. I would kid around with him at tournaments, Are you going to play with me? Look, obviously other than the fact that I love playing with Mike, again, like I had said, we had a great track record. We've won slams before. For the obvious reason: to play mixed at the Olympics. Hopefully we're going to get picked. I think winning here, winning a Wimbledon title, I think it's kind of hopefully to the powers that be a no‑brainer to put us in the tournament. Q. How do you approach that? How do you see the Olympic situation? MIKE BRYAN: I mean, I think it comes down to Jay Berger and who is your coach? LISA RAYMOND: Mary Joe. MIKE BRYAN: We'll get all in the same room and discuss it. I think we put a good foot forward. I don't know if Serena wants to play three events, but Bob is going to want a piece of it. I know Andy does. There's two spots, right? I like our chances, right? LISA RAYMOND: Again, I can't speak for Bob, I can't speak for Serena, I can't speak for anybody. But, you know, on paper, you kind of hope that the powers that be, if you're No.1 in the world, if you have the top four doubles players that are No.1 in the world, they're going to get a chance to play in the Olympics. But I've been there before and I know that doesn't always happen. But, you know, as far as Mike and I are concerned, I think, like you said, we put our best foot forward. There's not much more we could do than come away with a Wimbledon title. MIKE BRYAN: Got a lot of good options, though. Bob has won seven mixed doubles Grand Slams, and Serena is a joke. I mean, we're going to be looking good to get a medal for the U.S. Q. It's basically like a long Wimbledon basically. LISA RAYMOND: Amazing. MIKE BRYAN: We're going to go home for a couple weeks, fly back, and get here a week early. Yeah, I got to play a couple TeamTennis matches. You're chillin' on the beach. LISA RAYMOND: No, not chillin'. Liezel and I are taking next week off and then playing SanDiego. That's the reason why so many players want to play the Olympics this year is because it's at Wimbledon. What could be more special? I mean, it's amazing. Q. Was your dad here this week? MIKE BRYAN: No, he's coaching Sacramento, so he's on the road already. LISA RAYMOND: He was with us via email every day. MIKE BRYAN: He's the first guy to write. Q. A tough loss in the semis to those two guys, did you watch the match last night? What are your thoughts on what they did? MIKE BRYAN: It's a cool story. I mean, it's amazing how they stepped up. They beat really good teams. I think it was the first time on Centre Court. They rose to the occasion. They both looked really loose. It was good tennis. At the end it was pretty amazing points. They hung tough. You know, they won three or four five‑setters. It's a great story. The Haase‑Moody, they qualified and beat us in the finals. It shows you anything can happen in doubles. Everyone is good. They just made a great team. They were loose and they were happy to be playing together. To win the first title since 1936 for a British guy is really cool. Q. Did you feel for their opponents? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah. You never want to see guys go down three in a row. That's tough. They really wanted it. They probably saw a great opportunity. They weren't playing us or Melzer‑Petzschner. They really thought on paper they had a really good shot. Anything can happen. You still got to get it done. They'll be back. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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