Bryan brothers
The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are American former professional doubles tennis players. The most successful men's doubles team of all time, they won more professional matches, tournaments and majors than any other men's pairing, as well as multiple Olympic medals, including the gold in 2012. The Bryans jointly held the world No. 1 doubles ranking for a record 438 weeks, including for a record 139 consecutive weeks. They finished as the year-end No. 1 team a record ten times. Between 2005 and 2006, they competed in an Open Era record seven consecutive men's doubles major finals. The Bryans won 119 doubles titles together, including 16 majors – completing the double career Grand Slam – as well as Olympic gold and bronze medals, four Tour Finals titles, a record 39 Masters events, and were part of the victorious United States Davis Cup team in 2007. Alongside Daniel Nestor, the Bryans are the only doubles players to win every major and Masters event, an Olympic gold medal, and the Tour Finals: completing the Big Titles sweep.
The Bryans success is attributed to their particular brand of twinship: the Bryans are "mirror twins", where one is right-handed and the other left-handed. This is advantageous for their court coverage. They were coached by David Macpherson between 2005 and 2016. In January 2017 they reunited with coach Phil Farmer, who previously trained them to their first major title. In October 2017, Macpherson and Dr. Dave Marshall assumed coaching duties, with Marshall handling day-to-day responsibilities, until the duo retired.
Turning pro in 1998, the brothers retired in August 2020, having played their final match as a team in March of that year. They were well known for celebrating winning points by chest-bumping each other.
Records and achievements
On October 28, 2016, they recorded their all-time record 1000th match win, as a team, by defeating Pablo Cuevas and Viktor Troicki in the quarter-finals of the 2016 Erste Bank Open, in Vienna, Austria. Following their triumph at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, the Bryans became the only doubles pairing in the Open Era to hold all four major titles at once. They also won Olympic Gold during this period. They are also the only doubles team in history to have won every major title, having won all four Grand Slams, Olympic Gold, every ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, the ATP World Tour Finals and the Davis Cup during their careers.The two have won a record 119 tour titles, surpassing The Woodies who won 61, and have been finalists on 59 other occasions. They have a career "Super Slam" with 16 Grand Slam titles overall, which is more than any men's team in the Open Era. These include victories at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. They are the only doubles pairing in history to have completed the "Double Career Grand Slam", having won all four Grand Slam titles at least twice as a team. They won the ATP World Tour Finals doubles tournament four times.
They won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They won the 2007 Davis Cup, along with Andy Roddick and James Blake. The brothers were named ATP Team of the Decade for 2000–2009 and for 2010–2019.
The twins were part of the United States Davis Cup team, with a 25–5 record in doubles matches, the most wins ever by a USA doubles team. Both brothers have played Davis Cup singles matches.
Doubles records
- These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
- Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
| Time span | Selected Grand Slam tournament records | Players matched |
| 2003 French Open– 2014 US Open | 16 titles as a team | Stands alone |
| 2003 French Open– 2017 Australian Open | 30 finals as a team | Stands alone |
| 2003 French Open– 2006 Wimbledon | Career Grand Slam as a team | Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut |
| 2003 French Open- 2012 Olympics | Career Golden Slam as a team | Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde |
| 2003 French Open– 2012 Olympics | Career Super Slam as a team | Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde |
| 2012 US Open– 2013 Wimbledon | Holders of all four Majors simultaneously in a non-calendar year | Stands alone |
| 2012 Olympics– 2013 Wimbledon | Holders of Olympic gold and all four Majors simultaneously | Stands alone |
| 2013 Australian Open– 2013 Wimbledon | 3 titles in a single season as a team | Anders Järryd and John Fitzgerald |
| 2005 US Open– 2014 US Open | 10 consecutive years winning 1+ title | Stands alone |
| 2003 French Open– 2017 Australian Open | 15 consecutive years reaching 1+ final | Stands alone |
| 2003 French Open– 2014 US Open | 2+ titles at all 4 Majors as a team | Stands alone |
| 2005 US Open– 2014 US Open | 3+ titles at 3 different Majors as a team | Stands alone |
| 2005 US Open– 2014 US Open | 5+ titles at 2 different Majors as a team | Stands alone |
| 2003 French Open– 2017 Australian Open | 6+ finals at all 4 Majors as a team | Stands alone |
| 2005 Australian Open– 2006 Wimbledon | 7 consecutive finals as a team | Stands alone |
| 1999 French Open– 2020 Australian Open | 284 match wins as a team | Stands alone |
| 1999 French Open– 2018 Australian Open | 76 consecutive tournament appearances as a team | Stands alone |
| 2013 Australian Open– 2013 US Open | 22 match wins in a single season as a team | Stands alone |
| 2012 US Open– 2013 US Open | 28 consecutive match wins as a team | Stands alone |
| Grand Slam tournaments | Time span | Records at each Grand Slam tournament | Players matched |
| Australian Open | 2006–2013 | 6 titles overall | Stands alone |
| Australian Open | 2009–2011 | 3 consecutive titles | Stands alone |
| Australian Open | 2004–2017 | 10 finals overall | Stands alone |
| Australian Open | 2009–2013 | 5 consecutive finals | Stands alone |
| French Open | 2003–2016 | 7 finals overall | Stands alone |
| Wimbledon | 2005–2014 | 7 finals overall | Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde |
| US Open | 2005–2014 | 5 titles overall | Stands alone |
| US Open | 2003–2014 | 6 finals overall | Stands alone |
| French Open—Wimbledon | 2013 | Accomplished a "Channel Slam": Winning both tournaments in the same year | John Newcombe and Tony Roche Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan Anders Järryd and John Fitzgerald Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde |
| Time span | Other selected records | Players matched |
| 2001–2020 | 119 titles as a team | Stands alone |
| 1999–2020 | 178 finals as a team | Stands alone |
| 1996–2020 | 1108 match wins as a team | Stands alone |
| 2001–2017 | 13+ titles on three different surfaces | Stands alone |
| 2002–2015 | 14 consecutive years winning 5+ titles | Stands alone |
| 2001–2020 | 20 consecutive years winning at least one title | Stands alone |
| 2001–2019 | 18 consecutive years qualifying for ATP Final | Stands alone |
| 2003–2015 | 438 total weeks at No. 1 as a team | Stands alone |
| February 25, 2013 – October 25, 2015 | 139 consecutive weeks at No. 1 as a team | Stands alone |
| 2003–2014 | 10 year-end No. 1 rankings as a team | Stands alone |
| 2006, 2011, 2013–2014 | 4 years as wire-to-wire No. 1 | Stands alone |
| 2013–2014 | 2 consecutive years as wire-to-wire No. 1 | Stands alone |
| 2009–2014 | 6 consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings as a team | Stands alone |
| 2013 | Earliest obtaining of year-end No. 1 ranking for team | Stands alone |
| 2001–2019 | 19 consecutive year-end Top 10 rankings for team | Stands alone |
| 2002–2019 | 39 Masters 1000 titles as a team | Stands alone |
| 2002–2019 | 59 Masters 1000 finals as a team | Stands alone |
| 2002–2015 | 12 different versions of Masters 1000 titles as a team | Stands alone |
| 2014 | 6 Masters 1000 titles in a single season as a team | Stands alone |
| 2010, 2013–2014 | 4 consecutive Masters 1000 titles as a team | Stands alone |
| 2007, 2014 | 7 Masters 1000 finals in a single season as a team | Stands alone |
| 1999–2019 | 338 Masters 1000 match wins as a team | Stands alone |
| 2014 | Indian Wells-Miami double as a team | Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde Wayne Black and Sandon Stolle Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert |
| 2010 | Rome-Madrid double as a team | Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic |
| 2013 | Madrid-Rome double as a team | Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić |
| 2010 | Canada-Cincinnati double as a team | Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert |
| 2013 | Italian Open-French Open-Wimbledon, Old World treble, as a team | Stands alone |
| 2002-2005 | Mexican Open-Canadian Open-US Open, career North American treble, as a team | Stands alone |
| 2010–2011, 2012–2013 | Canadian Open-US Open-Australian Open-Wimbledon, Colonial slam, as a team in a non-calendar year | Stands alone |
| 2002–2013 | Winning all 4 Majors, the World Tour Finals, all 9 Masters 1000 titles, Olympic Gold, and the Davis Cup as a team | Stands alone |