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Bryans Crowned ATP World Tour Doubles Champions For Fifth Time

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were crowned ATP World Tour Doubles Champions for the fifth time in seven years after defeating Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6(5), 6-3 to win the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Sunday at The O2 in London.
For the second year in a row, the battle for the year-end No. 1 ATP Doubles Team Ranking came down to the last match of the season, with the Bryans needing to win the title to reclaim the crown they previously held in 2003 and ?05-07. Last year they lost out to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in a winner-take-all final at the season climax in Shanghai. The Bryans came into the ATP World Tour Finals with only a slim chance of finishing No. 1 in the 2009 ATP Doubles Team Rankings. They trailed their rivals, Nestor and Zimonjic, by 830 points and had lost their past two matches on the ATP World Tour. The twins were ominously defeated by Mirnyi and Ram in their opening round-robin match, but hit back strongly and played what they later claimed was their best match of the year to clinch the title.

For the second year in a row, the battle for the year-end No. 1 ATP Doubles Team Ranking came down to the last match of the season, with the Bryans needing to win the title to reclaim the crown they previously held in 2003 and ?05-07. Last year they lost out to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in a winner-take-all final at the season climax in Shanghai. The Bryans came into the ATP World Tour Finals with only a slim chance of finishing No. 1 in the 2009 ATP Doubles Team Rankings. They trailed their rivals, Nestor and Zimonjic, by 830 points and had lost their past two matches on the ATP World Tour. The twins were ominously defeated by Mirnyi and Ram in their opening round-robin match, but hit back strongly and played what they later claimed was their best match of the year to clinch the title. ?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. We feel like it's a little bit of a payback.? ?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.? It is the third time in six appearances that the Americans have won the year-end championships, previously winning back-to-back titles in 2003 (d. Llodra-Santoro) and ?04 (d. Black-Ullyett), when it was held in Houston, Texas. The Bryans clinched their 56th tour-level title together, the fourth-best tally in the Open Era. Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde are the all-time leaders with 61 titles. The Bryans are now just one trophy behind the teams of Peter Fleming-John McEnroe and Bob Hewitt-Frew McMillan, who both won 57 titles. ?It's in our sights now to catch them.? said Bob Bryan. ?To be even considered in the same sentence with the Woodies makes us proud. Those guys are our idols. I assume if we stay healthy, it's going to happen some day. Definitely want to honor those guys. That's the standard of doubles. Those guys were the best players ever. To be mentioned with those two is awesome.? In a re-match of their round-robin clash Monday, both teams were denied on break point chances in a high-quality first set that was to be decided on a tie-break. Mirnyi and Ram drew first blood to lead 2-0 as Mirnyi angled a backhand cross-court winner past the stranded Bryans. Mike Bryan was quick to level for his team, though, rifling a backhand winner down the middle for 2-2. As the tie-break proceeded with serve, it was the Americans who reached set point first at 6-5 and they converted as a telling backhand return from Mike Bryan forced a volley error. Both teams continued to serve strongly in the second set and neither was able to garner a break point chance until the eighth game, when Bob Bryan made the breakthrough with a stinging return to Ram?s feet that the Israeli could not return into court. A booming service game from Bob Bryan followed as the twins closed out victory after one hour and 59 minutes. ?It was a tough match,? said Mike Bryan. ?I thought they played great. It was twice the match it was in the round robin. We both kind of rose to the occasion the first set. It could have gone either way. They won more points in the first set. I thought we just won the big points. We scraped through it.? The Bryans closed the 2009 season with a 68-18 match record, highlighted by titles. They opened the season with success at the Medibank International (d. Nestor-Zimonjic) in Sydney before clinching their seventh Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open with victory over Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. The duo, who also finished runner-up at Wimbledon (l. to Nestor-Zimonjic) and three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, has won six of its seven titles on hard-court this year. ?It?s very disappointing,? said Ram. ?To get to the Finals and lose in the final, it's tough. I guess they needed it more, and they showed it in the second set. They were much more energetic. They pushed themselves to No. 1.?
Fast Facts:
*** Mike 'n Bob will be featured on 60 Minutes sometime this Spring. For the past four months the crews of this great show have been shooting interviews and background of the guys all over the US and even in London this past week. Following their final in the 02 Arena today, Lesley Stahl met them in the tunnel for yet another sit down interview. Lesley and her producers Shachar Baron and Meghan Frank and their staff and film crews have been a delight to work with. *** Brandon Moglen of Tennis Channel has produced a wonderful half hour TC Academy show on Doubles with Coach Bryan and the Bros. that will air several times in mid December. *** And speaking of the great Tennis Channel, they did a superb job in presenting the World Tour Championships this past week and we give a "Bravo and A+" to the best broadcast team in the business: Leif Shiras 'n Jimmy Arias. We also say well done to Justin Gimelstob and to Ashley Fisher for his solid doubles insights. *** The Bros. will now go on a whirlwind two weeks of playing exhibitions, charity events, and Bryan Bros. Band performances in Pelham on Dec. 2, Chattanooga Dec. 3, Norcross Dec. 4, Knoxville Dec. 5, Baltimore Dec. 8-9, Tampa, Dec. 10-11, and Las Vegas, Dec. 12-13. Thanks to Trevor Short, Sara Fornaciari, Pam Shriver, and Glen Alex for being the driving forces behind these great events. *** The Bryan Bros. hot new CD, Let It Rip, is selling well on ITunes. It features their pal from Stanford, David Baron who is a very talented singer/songwriter. The five songs go for 99 cents ea. or $4.95 for the whole album. To go to ITunes to get it click on: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/let-it-rip-feat-david-baron-ep/id341137121 Proceeds benefit the Bryan Bros. Foundation. *** Their newest release is the rockin' and funny song called Autograph, featuring verses by tennis stars Andy Murray and Novak the Joker Djokovic. You'll love this tune and find yourself playing it over and over! *** For more band info and to see the making of their album go to their Bryan Bros. Band Web Site: http://www.bryanbrosband.com/music.php *** The 6th tune on the album is being finished up and will be released on ITunes soon. Its called Open Your Heart and is dedicated to Andre Agassi and features Jim Bogious of the Counting Crows on drums and Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band on violin. *** For their great regular Bryan Bros. Web Site that is updated daily and headed up by our dedicated pals Amber and Tiffany click on: http://www.bobandmike.com/ It also has clips of the songs: Let It Rip, Chasin' the Sun, Spendin' My Days, and Marchin' On. *** Thanks to David MacPherson of Sarasota for yet another great year of working with Mike n' Bob. David, the Aussie lefty who was formerly #11 in the world, is a great guy, a great coach and as bright and hard working as they come. *** We appreciate the steadfast support of Donald Dell, John Tobias, Jeff Newman, Karen Piner and Sam Duvall of the Best Agency. They are the best in the business and so very nice and fun to work with. *** Thanks also to the dynamic Natalie Mikolich who does Mike 'n Bob PR and who went to London to root the guys on to the title. *** Coach Bryan has had a whirlwind Fall season doing talks and clinics and emceeing events in Charlotte (Jon Venison 'n Jim Courier), Spartenburg (Cornelius Jordan), Surprise (John Austin), Atlanta (Paige Miller), Lincoln (Prince), Palos Verdes (Chris Ojakian, Tracy Austin, John Austin, and Pam Shriver) and Chicago (Mark Bey). He will be emceeing all the Bros. exos and will do one extra one with Serena Williams in Athens, Georgia on Dec. 12. This final event is headed up by Jeff Newman, the great tournament director of the Legg Mason Championships, which are held in Washington DC in early August each year. *** The Bryan Bros. Twitter page now has over 11,450 daily readers and is updated by Bob each day. To check it out click on: http://twitter.com/bryanbros *** Mike 'n Bob are crazy about their new Prince Rackets - - - the Ignite 95. They report that it has lotsa pop and contral and feel at the same time. After only practicing with it for one week, in the past month they have won two titles with 'em: Beijing and London, reaching the finals of Basel. *** The twins are happy that their pal Sam Querrey has recovered from his accident in China and is now out practicing again. *** Thanks to Pat Cairns for her steadfast support again this year and we just love wearing Oakley sunglasses and watches everywhere we go. *** We salute the dynamic Chris Ojakian for once again heading up his MS Pro Celeb Pro Am. Lots of dollars were raised for this great cause and we enjoyed emceeing the event, with lots of stars turning out, including Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver, Michael Chang, John Austin, Gavin Rossdale, Scott Davis, Vijay Amritraj, Tom Gullikson, Jeff Tarango, Tony Graham, Derreck Rostagno, Eliott Teltscher, Katrina Adams, Dave McKinney, David Roditi, and Bill Scanlon. *** The Bryans have enjoyed representing adidas for the past 12 years and have always proudly worn their beautiful clothes. *** The guys extend special thanks to Lucy, Michelle, Elena, Peter, Allie, Natalie, and Hortensia for being there to root them on to the title this past week. *** We so greatly appreciate your support during what Bob called the "roller coaster ride" of 2009. Your kind e mails, text messages and calls lift our spirits and help us all so much on this tennis journey. We will do our best to respond and thank you, but that is always a challenge with our travel schedule. *** We wish you a most joyous holiday season with your friends and family.