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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 18, 2014Mike BryanBob BryanMELBOURNE, VICTORIA BRYAN‑BRYAN/Haase‑Kas THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Give us the off‑season highlights? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, Bob had a baby. BOB BRYAN: Wasn't too exciting other than spending a few days in the hospital getting Bobby Jr. out into the world. Spent a week with him, back on the road. Spend a lot of time on FaceTime, a few hours a day. Michelle is holding down the fort, struggling. Q. Does it make things any different? People talk about the perspective. Do you feel differently on the court now that you have another baby? BOB BRYAN: I mean, adding another baby to the mix, I think it makes it a little more difficult to travel. Definitely going to have to get a nanny. The whole perspective thing, going from zero to one is the big jump. That really changes your life. But adding another little guy is a lot of fun. He's adorable. Look forward to doing his Twitter account (laughter). But they'll probably make their first trip at Indian Wells. Q. What is your mindset coming into 2014? MIKE BRYAN: You know, same as every year: we want to start off with a bang and try to win this sucker. This is probably our most successful slam. We're playing well. I think our main focus this year is play well at the slams, finish No.1, and have a good Davis Cup year. Those three things. Q. Why do you think this tournament has been the sweetest? BOB BRYAN: I mean, as far as, you know, the race is concerned, it's nice to get on top early, look down at the other teams and try to hold them off. You know, it's a lot easier than being far back in the race and trying to make up ground at the other tournaments. So we want to start off hot like we have in the past. Q. Why is this the best tournament for you? Is it because you do something in the off‑season other teams aren't doing, you're not reshuffling? BOB BRYAN: It's definitely a combination of sometimes the new teams are trying to get their footing. The fact that we're feeling very fresh with that month, month and a half off. You know, upstairs when you're fresh, you can deal with adversity a lot better. We've gotten through a ton of three‑setters here. Not all the matches have been easy and not always have we played our best tennis here. It's just I think the freshness in the head has helped. Q. Henry Talbert was at the helm for many years when you were coming of age. There's going to be a service tomorrow. What are your best memories of that guy? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, he's done a ton for the game. He's a big name in Southern California. We've seen him around numerous tournaments. Didn't personally get to know him that well. My dad did. A bunch of other people we are close with knew him. They say he was just a great guy. I was copied on a few emails my dad wrote in his last days, and my dad certainly had great things to say about him. But, yeah, he's going to be missed. Q. What new teams or reformed teams are you looking at as being dangerous for the season? BOB BRYAN: Our big rivals from five years ago, Nestor/Zimonjic. They won last week. They still got magic left. Definitely look forward to playing them again in big matches. Both guys Grand Slam champions with a bunch of experience. There's no reason why they won't be contending for big titles like they were, you know, a few years ago. That team. Indo‑Pak Express is bringing their stuff back. Who else do we got? MIKE BRYAN: Mirnyi and a lot of different singles guys, mixing it up with a few guys. Tecau and Rojer. There's a lot of new teams. Lindstedt/Melzer, but Melzer is hurt. A lot of reshuffle jobs. But the Poles are out there. They're always going to stick it out together. Q. Is there anyone that you could see that would be a good pair that haven't played together? BOB BRYAN: Geez, everyone has gone through everyone at this stage (laughter). I mean, we're all getting into our mid to late 30s. A lot of guys have been on this tour for 20 years. I mean, the numbers are getting crazy, how many times we're playing Nestor, past 50, and Paes. So we've seen it all. Everyone has at this stage. If we have any suggestion for better partnerships, we're probably going to keep it to ourselves. Q. You had some bad luck at Flushing when Leander got on fire. How do you deal with that from a professional and emotional point of view? Do you let it go or really look at it? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean... BOB BRYAN: That one, we didn't really break down the match. That one we never looked at the X's and O's of the loss. It was just too emotional, too much of a ride, you know, in the media, on the court, with the fans. We just kind of just buried it. We don't talk about it very much. Looking back, we're proud of what we did. But, yeah, I mean, it took definitely a few days to pep back up after that one (smiling). MIKE BRYAN: I went to Jackson Hole. Q. It's obviously a huge asset being twins. Is there ever a downside to it, even in a match when you both are sort of deflating, there's not someone outside the box? MIKE BRYAN: Our energy probably goes together. A lot of times we're positive together, and we can be negative together. I've seen everything this guy can do. I expect him to do it every time. If he's giving me a little less, there's going to be words said, there's going to be some looks that, you know, you wouldn't give a normal partner. You take it personally when it's your brother, and you don't want to hear it. That's the main negative. There's so many positives that outweigh the negatives. BOB BRYAN: Yeah, our energy is connected. So when one of us is feeling down, usually the whole team kind of goes down together. That can work as a positive, because when he's rolling, I feel good as well. We can really carry that momentum through a match, so... Q. Back to the preseason, do you ever think about doing bracketology of who is going to go with who? BOB BRYAN: Put bets (smiling)? It always happens right after the US Open when the rumors start flying, people start sending emails, talking behind the other guy's back. MIKE BRYAN: It's like high school going around the locker room. BOB BRYAN: It's a fun time of year. Everyone is laughing, talking smack. By the time Asia comes around, it's in full swing. Q. Who is the best at talking smack? BOB BRYAN: Who is the best smack talker? Seems like Bhupathi is in the center of all the gossip. MIKE BRYAN: He's got spice. He's got CIA everywhere. BOB BRYAN: It always hits him first. He gets it first. Q. A big part of all sports is when to go for it, when to be conservative. Stanford's Rose Bowl loss, did they go too conservative at crunch time? BOB BRYAN: I think everyone's take on that game was they were a little bit conservative. That's what put them in that game, that hard‑nosed run game. I would have loved to see them go deep a couple times, especially when they were down. MIKE BRYAN: The last play you knew they were going to go right down the middle. They were waiting for them. Q. When the emails come around, do they ever try to come to you? MIKE BRYAN: Break us up? Q. Yes. BOB BRYAN: We're actually the last guys to hear this stuff. Bhupathi, if you guys need some good gossip, he's the man. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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