Interview with doubles legend Bob Bryan: "Tommy Haas has never taken a day off"
Bob Bryan has won an incredible 119 titles on the ATP Tour in his career, three of them at Wimbledon and all with his twin brother Mike . A brief conversation before the start of the legends tournament in Wimbledon.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Jul 06, 2022, 11:04 am
By Jens Huiber from London
The organizers of the Legends Tournament at Wimbledon may mix and match the pairings as they please, but one thing is set in stone: The Bryan Brothers Bob and Bryan will compete side-by-side. This year in a group with Jürgen Melzer/Gilles Muller, Fernando Gonzalez/Sebastian Grosjean and Jonathan Marray/Frederik Nielsen.
Before the event began, Bob Bryan took a few minutes to chat on Media Row.
tennisnet : Mr. Bryan. How are you currently keeping in shape?
Bob Bryan : Just by running after my kids. I have three children - ten, eight and six years old - they all play tennis. We're just having a great time here at Wimbledon, almost like a holiday. And my kids run after their favorite players.
tennisnet : Who would be there?
Bryan : My son Bobby loves Carlos Alcaraz. He's only eight years old and he's been trying to do that drop shot all the time. And I keep telling him he can't do it yet. Nobody can hit this ball like Carlos. But he doesn't listen to me. He wants to be like Alcaraz. Or like Nick Kyrgios.
tennisnet : Any ambitions?
Bryan : It's a tough road to the top. I would love it if they played in college. Mike and I had the most fun in tennis when we played for Stanford University.
tennisnet : If you ask around a little among the professionals here, they often say: Jack Sock is the best doubles player. Do you agree?
Bryan : Jack Sock and it doesn't matter who is a difficult team to beat. he just has so many guns. He has a forehand that doubles players don't usually have. The ball comes off his racket extremely quickly. He has a great serve. And the return is also very good for a doubles player. Who knows how well he'll do here with Denis Kudla - they could even win the title (Kudla and Sock have both had to drop out due to injury - editor's note) .
"Kokkinakis and Kyrgios winning was cool for doubles"
tennisnet : Who else do you see among the favorites?
Bryan : Ram and Salisbury have a game made for the pitch. Both haven't won here yet and are really hungry. Mektic and Pavic hit here last year and just one run, they've won four of their last five tournaments I think.
tennisnet : How did you like the development at the Australian Open when Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis suddenly won the title? Actually two single players...
Bryan : I think that was very cool for the doubles competition. You've brought a whole new audience to our sport. The people in the audience: They weren't tennis players. But kids from the street. A very urban crowd. Everyone shouted, it was loud. It was pure entertainment. Kyrgios and Kokkinakis played from the baseline. That's how you can sometimes win in doubles. Not always.
tennisnet : How seriously do you take the legends tournament here?
Bryan : My brother definitely takes everything very seriously. But we don't know how the tournament will develop here. All have resigned. I don't play much, Mike doesn't play much. But everyone here says they don't play much. But I don't think there will be any very clear results. Everyone can still play. We're already at the older end of the Legends Tournament. Baghdatis and Malisse are still in their 30s, Melzer only ended his career a year ago and Nielsen just a month ago. And Tommy Haas has never taken a day off from tennis in his entire life.
wimmap