Bryans ready for leadership role

It’s impossible to flick through the tennis annals without seeing Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful doubles pairing in the last decade, plastered all over the record books.

The Californian twins have pretty much achieved everything in their 12 years on the tour… a career Grand Slam, a record 16 Grand Slam doubles final appearances, the Davis Cup title, the No. 1 ranking, the list goes on.

They won their eighth Grand Slam doubles title and 57th career title overall at the 2010 Australian Open, leaving Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde - commonly known as “the Woodies” - hanging on to their title records by their fingernails.

You’d be forgiven for thinking there’s very little that could faze the Bryans. But at this week’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie between USA and Serbia in Belgrade, the brothers are the first to admit that their 19th tie together will be one of their most challenging.

With newcomers John Isner and Sam Querrey stepping up to the role of Davis Cup singles players, this will be the first time that the Bryans will be without the competition’s veterans Andy Roddick and James Blake in the squad, a foursome that posted a 9-2 winning record together in Davis Cup.

“It’s going to be a little bit different, it’s going to feel weird,” says Bob. “Those guys have been a rock of the team and we’re kind of stepping into that leadership role. But we’ve got Querrey and Isner really eager to play and we expect great things from those guys.”

Captain Patrick McEnroe’s team will be taking on world No. 2 Novak Djokovic, doubles No. 1 Nenad Zimonjic, Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic on indoor clay at the Belgrade Arena in what is sure to be an extremely tight first round clash.

Although the Bryans, who turn 32 next month, have always been the older members of the team over the years, they have never been the leaders, so the mentoring role they will assume this weekend will be a new experience for both of them.

“We’ll probably be doing a little pre-match speech in the locker room,” says Mike. “It’s funny being the older guys on the team and having some youngsters we’ve got to lead.”

The Bryans come into the tie with an unbeaten record on clay in Davis Cup doubles. At the 2004 Final against Spain, they won USA’s only live point of the tie before Spain went on to take the title.

Then three years later in the Final against Russia in Portland, they scored the winning point to crown USA Davis Cup champion for the first time in 12 years, an achievement Roddick described as “the final goal”.

What do the twins make of the 20,000 Serbian fans flocking to the Belgrade Arena this weekend? “We’re calling it ‘disturbia’!” laughs Bob.

“It’s going to be tough, it’s probably going to be the most hostile atmosphere we’ve ever played in. We know that the doubles point is huge and it could be the swing point so we’re going to treat it like a Grand Slam final and try to win,” adds Mike.

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