Bryan brothers' debut at '95 US Open vs. USTA president

Mike and Bob Bryan announced Wednesday that the 2020 season would be their last on tour and that the US Open would be the final tournament of their illustrious careers.

USTA.com spoke with USTA President and Chairman of the Board Patrick Galbraith, who played against the brothers in their first of 24 trips to Flushing Meadows in 1995.

Mike and Bob Bryan have been leaping in the air and bumping each other's chests for as long as they can remember.

It’s been more than 24 years since they first did it on a Grand Slam stage at the 1995 US Open. Current USTA President and Chairman of the Board Patrick Galbraith remembers it well, since he was on the other side of the net for the Bryan brothers’ professional debut on Aug. 31, 1995.

Mike and Bob had been given a wild card into the US Open after winning the 1995 boys’ USTA National Closed Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., just two weeks earlier.

Awaiting the twins at the now long-abandoned Court 22 on Day 4 of the tournament was Galbraith and his Canadian partner Grant Connell.

Galbraith and Connell had reached the Wimbledon men’s doubles final in both 1993 and 1994, but they came into New York having lost four of their past six Grand Slam matches and knowing the '95 season would be their last together.
 

Galbraith, a former world No. 1 doubles player and two-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, said he was nervous that their run of poor form would continue in the Big Apple, but he said those worries were allayed when he saw his opponents.
 

“[Mike and Bob’s father] Wayne Bryan came up to us and said, ‘The boys are so excited to play you; it’s a great opportunity.’ I was thinking, ‘Yeah, they’ll probably beat us, too, because we were playing so bad.’ But I didn’t know who they were. The first time I saw them was when we were walking out on court. I think they were 17 years old, and they probably didn’t weigh 130 pounds, and I thought, 'There’s no way we’re losing to these kids.'
 

“But you could tell they were going to be good. They knew how to play doubles; they moved well. We won the first set, 6-0, and we were up 2-0 in the second set, and they were worried they were going to lose 0-and-0 in their first match at the US Open. They got a game to go 2-1, and they gave each other the huge chest bump. The monkey was off their back.”
 

Galbraith and Connell won in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, and ended up reaching the semifinals. Galbraith remembered thinking the brothers would be a fine team once they grew into their bodies and added a little big-match experience to their resumes.
 

Galbraith played the twins twice more, at the French Open and at Wimbledon, both in 2000, in Galbraith’s final year on tour.
 

The Bryans beat Galbraith and Brian MacPhie, 6-3, 6-4, in Paris before losing in London, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.
 

“I talked a lot to Wayne about the boys and what they were doing and how they were playing, and it was fun to watch them progress and become the team that they eventually became," said Galbraith, who succeeded Katrina Adams as USTA President in January. "I got to play them not at their peak but when they were on their way in 2000, and you could tell they were a much different team.
 

“You could tell then that they were a top team. They weren’t the top team, but I knew they were going to win Wimbledon when I played them in 2000. They were on their way.”
 

The Bryans won Wimbledon three years later in 2003 for the first of a record 16 Grand Slam men’s doubles titles. Over the next 15 years, they revolutionized the sport and made doubles a must-watch event.
 

“I feel like everyone knew Mike and Bob a little bit. No doubles team has had the popularity that they’ve had," added Galbraith. "They were the first team that was a draw for tournaments when doubles wasn’t the main event. But they made it the main event. One of their goals was to increase the popularity of doubles, and they did a fantastic job of that.
 

"They’re easy to cheer for. They’re nice guys. They’re excited out there; they’re energized. They make it really easy to get behind. I’m amazed how long they played together. The longest I had a partner was three years, so I know it’s stressful. There’s a lot of stress in a doubles partnership, so for these guys to do this for so long is incredible. I’m incredibly proud of what they were able to achieve. The one thing that always impressed me was their passion and their respect for the game.”

Pictured above: Patrick Galbraith. Photo by Stephen Dunn/Allsport.