|
|
Bob and Mike Bryan pose with their trophy after winning the ATP World Tour Doubles Final
© Getty Images
|
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Sunday, Nov. 29, identical 31-year-old twins Bob and Mike Bryan captured the 2009 Barclays ATP World Tour Doubles Finals at the O2 Arena in London for the third time in six appearances and reclaimed the year-end No. 1 doubles ranking for the fifth time in seven years after defeating Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram, 7-6, 6-3, in the final.
The Bryan Brothers, who lost to Mirnyi-Ram in their opening round-robin match in London, faced nearly impossible circumstances to win one of the most sought-after titles and claim the year-end No. 1 ranking, which came down to the last match of the season for the second year in a row.
In 2008, the Bryan Brothers lost to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in a winner-take-all final for the year-end No. 1 ranking at the year-end championships in Shanghai, but after their tremendous comeback in London, the Bryan Brothers were crowned the 2009 Barclays ATP Tour Finals Doubles Champions in addition to their back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.
“It means so much,” said Bob Bryan. “It's pretty much what we play for now. That's the goal. Play well in the Slams, but the ultimate goal is to finish No. 1. We felt like it was stolen from us last year. Now we kind of crept up on those guys and stole it from them this year.”
“To come full circle, do it in the last tournament, with so much riding on this one match, it's huge,” agreed Mike Bryan. “We're going to be talking about this match for the rest of our lives. There's nothing sweeter than this.”
The Bryan Brothers have now won 56 ATP World Tour career doubles titles, including seven Grand Slam Championships and three ATP Tour Finals Championships, and are only five titles away from matching the world record of 61 titles won by Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, who are the all-time leaders. The Bryan Brothers are only one title away from catching the No. 2 all-time leaders, Peter Fleming-John McEnroe and Bob Hewitt-Frew McMillan, who both won 57 titles during their doubles careers. The Bryan Brothers also now tie Woodbridge-Woodforde for the most years finishing No. 1 in the world at five years.
Winning the ATP Tour Finals concludes the Bryan Brothers remarkable 2009 season with a 68-18 win-loss record, including seven titles (Sydney, Australian Open, Delray, Houston, Los Angeles, Beijing, London) and winning at least five ATP World Tour titles for eight consecutive years. In addition to this, Bob and Mike were featured in some of the most prestigious U.S. publications in 2009, including the New York Times Magazine and the New Yorker the week of Aug. 31, which is only the second time in history the same story has been featured in both publications the same week.
Coming up in 2010, Bob and Mike will have a special feature story on "60 Minutes," with the interview done by one of the most prestigious news anchors in the world – Lesley Stahl.
For more information on Bob & Mike, visit http://bobandmike.com.
About BEST
BEST is a unified full-service sports and entertainment company. Current clients include Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, Reggie Bush, DeAngelo Hall, Chris Johnson and 2009 NFL Draft first-round picks Aaron Maybin and Percy Harvin; NBA All-Star Shawn Marion, 2009 NBA Lottery pick Ricky Rubio and 2009 NBA Sixth-Man of the Year Jason Terry; legendary ATP doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan, rising star Melanie Oudin, WTA No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki and WTA No. 7 Victoria Azarenka. Media & Event properties include the US Open Tennis Championship, the French Open Tennis Championship, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, numerous US-based ATP tournaments, Rock ’n Racquets, the Boston Marathon, the Superstars Competition, Ice Wars, The Hall of Fame Showcase, the Men’s and Women’s Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships and experiential grassroots properties Hoop It Up, Kick It and Let It Fly. www.experienceBEST.com
About Blue Equity
Blue Equity, LLC is an independent, private equity firm based in Louisville, Ky. It is committed to actively investing growth capital and business expertise in enterprises with solid development potential. Blue Equity forms strategic partnerships with existing management teams and leverages its expertise and relationships to stabilize, strengthen and grow lasting value. Investment efforts and managerial expertise are focused on the operation of a global and diversified portfolio of business enterprises, including opportunities in media, publishing, sports and entertainment, financial services, health care and real estate. Blue Equity is dedicated to helping businesses grow by accelerating opportunity and driving innovation to the marketplace. www.blueequity.com