Wayne Bryan’s Newsletter • Bryan Bros. Win Delray Beach for the 5th Time

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have never lived in Delray Beach, Florida, but the Delray Beach Open has long served as a second home to the all-time  greats, and it did again on Sunday.

The Bryans won their fifth Delray Beach crown and 117th tour-level title together, beating another pair of brothers in Brits Ken Skupski-Neal Skupski 7-6(5), 6-4 during the historic final at the ATP 250.  The title is their first together since last April at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the last time they celebrated a tour-level title before Bob injured his right hip and had to miss the rest of the 2018 season.

“We’re very, very, very pleased with how this week’s gone.  Our expectations have been a little bit lower than they have in the past.  We’ve just been trying to have fun and enjoy our time together, and it’s actually resulted in some really good play.  We didn’t lose a set this week.  We’re taking care of our serve and just weathering the tough times during matches,” Bob Bryan said.

The twin Americans were playing in their seventh Delray Beach final (5-2) and first tour-level title match since the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000, last May, when Bob’s right hip forced him to retire.

He didn’t play another match all season, and Mike went on to partner countryman Jack Sock for three titles –Wimbledon, US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals – and become the oldest player (40 years, 78 days) to be ranked No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings.

“Watching Mike do it last year gave me a lot of confidence,” Bob Bryan said.  “To see that he could get to No. 1 and be so dominant with Jack really helped me mentally.  It helped get me to this stage because I know it’s possible.”

After Bob recuperated from hip surgery he underwent last August, the Bryans joined forces again in January, and their title this week shows they’re back – or at least close to – their 2018 form that saw them return to being the #1 Team in the world and picking up two ATP Masters 1000 titles (Miami, Monte-Carlo) in a row before Bob’s injury.

“We don’t want to stop here.  We want to keep rolling and hold up bigger ones, hopefully a Masters 1000 in the near future and then a Grand Slam,” Mike Bryan said.

It was the first all-brothers doubles final on the ATP Tour since June 1977, when Vijay Amritraj and Anand Amritraj beat John Lloyd and David Lloyd 6-1, 6-2 at The Queen’s Club in London.

 

Fast Facts:

***  Two weeks ago the Bros. were the #10 ranking team in the world, following Delray Beach the went up to #6, and this coming Monday as they get ready for Indian Wells they will jump all the way to #4.  Mike is #1 in the world doubles ranking and about 3,000 points ahead of the #2 player.  He is also fast approaching another big milestone of being ranked #1 for 500 weeks.  No singles or doubles player in history is even close to that mark.

***  Thanks to the great Tennis Channel for televising two of the Bros. four Stadium Matches from Delray Beach. They have great admiration for the dynamic and charismatic combo of TC Exec David Egdes and their best-in-the-biz commentators , Jim Courier, Leif Shiras, Tracy Austin, Paul Annacone, Jimmy Arias, Mark Knowles, and Chanda Rubin.  They love the TC and they think it is the greatest vehicle for the growth of our sport in the USA.  No network on planet earth covers tennis so well and with such enthusiastic and innovative programming and content.

• • •K-Swiss has just announced the launch of its new Classic 88 II Bryan Brothers lifestyle shoe model.  The special limited edition shoe marks a year-long collaboration with Bob and Mike Bryan, the winningest doubles team in the history of tennis.  Be sure to get yours starting March 4th at kswiss.com,tenniswarehouse.com and tennisexpress.com  Mike and Bob will be doing an autograph signing at Tennis Warehouse during theBNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells to showcase their new shoe.

• K-Swiss will be giving away a few pairs of the shoe at theirBryan Bros. Band performance on Thursday, March 7, from 5:00-7:00 on the Food Court Stage.  Playing once again with Mike and Bob on staged will be famed Counting Crows drummer and vocalist Jim Bogios.  And look for Jim to be out and some of Mike and Bob practices sessions and jumping in to hit balls.  Very fine player!

*** Coach Bryan and the Bryan Brothers Foundation is helping to take over 300 deserving juniors along with a dedicated group of coaches and chaperones and parents to the first four days of the BNP Paribas Open at the picturesque Tennis Garden at Indian Wells.  Besides watching the exciting pro matches each day, the kids will haveWorkouts, a Tie Breaker Doubles Shootout, a Dinner and a gala Talent Show with tour stars as judges.  The kids will also attend the Bryan Bros. Band performance on Thursday, March 7, on the Food Court Stage from 5:00-7:00.

*** Juniors are coming in from greater So Cal, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Central Coast, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, and Georgia.  Humungous thanks to these dedicated and heart-of-gold tennis leaders who are working so hard to give these kids an exciting, inspirational, motivational, fun, memorable, and magical trip toIndian Wells:  Ryan Wolfington, Trent Alenik, Terry Lynch, CathyAnn Simon, Mike Marquez, Roger Wang, and Sam Kennedy.

*** Mike and Bob are very proud to support the Bryan Brothers Doubles Race in Southern California.  SCTA Director of Player Development and former UC Irvine Coach, WTT Coach and ATP tour player, Trevor Kronemann,has worked hard on this program over the past two years and he reports that double play is up 14% because of it.   The Bros. have donated a very large and beautiful Perpetual Trophy and they give very nice medals to the top teams in the Boys and Girls 10s,12s, 14s, 16s, and 18s.   Mike and Bob are on hand to personally present the medals to these 20 talented and hardworking juniors who finished the year as the #1 team in their division for the 2018 year long season.

*** The Awards will be presented on the Food Court Stage at the Tennis Garden during the BNP Paribas Open at 4:40 on Thursday, March 7.   Dynamic new SCTA ED, Marla Messing will be there to congratulate the winners, along with SCTA Chairman of the Board and former USC tennis star, Chris Lewis, and other Board Members andSoCal tennis notables Bob Hochstadter, Chris Boyer, Bill Kellogg, Greg Hickey, and Eric Mann.  SCTA staffer, Megan Hennegan, has also been very helpful with this program and with the junior trip to Indian Wells.

*** Mike and Bob are happy to be going up to San Francisco on April 3 and 4 to do appearances and other events and play with their Bryan Bros. Band to support the new Tennis Center in Golden Gate Park and SF Rec & Park’saward-winning Tennis & Learning Center program for underserved youth in NorCal.

*** For more info on this worthwhile cause click on this hyper link:http://www.tenniscoalitionsf. org  Mike and Bobare especially happy to be doing these events because their longtime pal and tennis mover ‘n shaker Linda Glassel, who is spearheading this revitalization along with their legendary Stanford Coach and mentor and friend, Dick Gould.

 

Tournament and Exo Schedule for the Spring Season:

Feb. 25-March 3; Indian Wells, March 6-17;  Miami, March 20-31;  Clinic at Horseshoe Bay Resort and Exo in the evening at the Fair Oaks Rach CC in San Antonio, April 5;  Exo and Pro Am and Clinic at the Fair Oaks Ranch CC in San Antonio,April 6;  Houston, April 8-14; Monte Carlo, April 15-21;  Barcelona, April 22-28;  Madrid, May 6-12;  Rome, May 13-19; and Paris for the French Open, May 27-June 9.

 

Bryan Bros, Band Schedule for the Spring Season:

Delray Beach, Feb. 20;  Indian Wells, March 7;  San Francisco, April 3;  San Antonio at the Fair Oaks CC, April 6;  and Houston at the River Oaks CC, April 11.

 

A Promise and an Apology:

I promise that we read and are so very appreciative of all your kind and positive and supportive e mails.  They always lift our spirits and they mean so much to us.  But we must apologize for not being able to write back and thank you personally.  Our Spring schedule is rolling and relentless and all consuming.  Again, thank you and sorry…