Bryans Bros. Win #45  in Miami

Top seeds and defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan captured their first ATP title of the season Saturday as they defeated No. 4 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-2, 6-2 in 53 minutes in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

The Bryans were appearing in their ATP-best fifth final of the year after runner-up finishes in Sydney, San Jose, Las Vegas and Delray Beach. Going back to the 2007 Australian Open, they have now reached 20 finals in 27 tournaments. The Bryans won their 45th career title together and are now No. 4 in the Open Era team titles list.  They also improved their match record to 23-6 on the season.

The twin brothers, who never faced a break point, broke Knowles twice in the opening set, in the fourth and eighth games.  In the second set, Bhupathi was broken twice, also in the fourth and eighth games.

They are the third team in the 24-year tournament history to win back-to-back titles.  Todd Woodbridge-Mark Woodforde won three in a row from 1995-97 and Jonas Bjorkman-Max Mirnyi won back-to-back in 2005-06.

They were making their 10th career appearance in Miami, and have a lifetime record of 29-8 at the event, including wins in 14 of their last 15 matches.  The Americans reached their first Miami final two years ago (l. to Bjorkman-Mirnyi) and clinched the title last year (d. Damm-Paes).

Fast Facts:

*** Mike and Bob celebrated last night with their long time friend Serena Williams, who won the singles, at her favorite club in Miami.

*** The twin brothers will fly today to Winston-Salem to join their teammates Andy Roddick and James Blake and their Captain Patrick McEnroe.  Our USA Team will take on France in the Davis Cup Quarter Finals next weekend, April 11-13.

*** With their 45th Title in Miami, Mike and Bob moved up to #4 on the all time list of doubles wins by a team and they trail only Todd Woodbridge-Mark Woodforde with 61, and John McEnroe-Peter Fleming and Bob Hewitt-Frew McMillan, who are tied with 57.

*** The Bryan Bros. are tied with McEnroe-Fleming as the #1 American Davis Cup Doubles Team of all time.  Both duos are tied with 14-1 records.

*** Following the Davis Cup next week, Mike & Bob will appear at the USTA National Meeting Luncheon for President Jane Brown Grimes on Monday, April 14, in Naples, Florida. 

*** They will also make an appearance at Lake Charles, Louisiana on Friday and Saturday, April 18-19, to raise funds for the tennis club there that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

*** The Bros. will begin the European Claycourt Season with tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and then the French Open in Paris.

Post Match Interview:

           THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

            Q.  Finally won a tournament.  How does it feel to get the monkey off your back?

            MIKE BRYAN:  Feels good.  I think we got better every match.  Today was one of the best matches we played in a long time.  I think the last time we played like that was against Mark Knowles-James Blake in Basel in the fall, and it was 6-1, 6-1.  Today was the same way.  We were doing everything well.  We came out just going for it.  That's what you have to do against a good team like that in a big final, and, yeah, the chips fell.

            BOB BRYAN:  It feels really good, you know, especially going to Davis Cup.  I talked to Patrick McEnroe.  He said, You're peaking at the right time.  He's proud of us.

            Q.  Was he threatening to yank you?

            MIKE BRYAN: Ha. Ha.  No,  well, but you want to earn your job.

            Q.  Does this help?  I mean what kind of momentum does this give you?

            BOB BRYAN: It just -- you know, makes practice a lot easier.  You know, you're not as edgy.  It was just a good feeling, you know.

Like I said earlier in the week, losing in the finals four times just makes you hungrier and hungrier.  When we went out there today we didn't take anything for granted.  We were focused on every point.  Didn't let anything bother us.  I think last year winning 11 titles, you wake up on the Sundays and you're like, Oh, here's another one.  Sometimes that, you know, can bite you in the ass.  You have to take each one of these opportunities because you never know how many you're going to get.

            Q.  Was it fun playing on Stadium Court?

            MIKE BRYAN: It's always fun playing on Stadium Court, especially with an enthusiastic crowd.  I was happy that a lot of people stayed after that long Serena match, and, you know, a long ceremony where they, you know, blew up a lot of confetti on that court and they had to blow it off.  So it was a good crowd.  All week there's been good crowds for doubles, which is encouraging.  Yeah, I mean, we always play our best when, you know, you feel like the fans appreciate your doubles.

            Q.  You think you'll play Clement and Llodra?

            MIKE BRYAN: Yeah.

            Q.  What are your feelings about them, your history a little bit?

            BOB BRYAN: Yeah, I think we beat them a couple times.  They beat us -- might have beat us more than we beat them.  They play well against us.  Great return, good server.  Just two guys that compliment each other well, so, you know, they're -- I think they'll be ready for the big match.  We played in the finals of Wimbledon and they stepped up.  I don't expect an easy match at all.

            Q.  If he decides to kind of match them up, Tsonga and Gasquet are the last team to beat you, not at Davis Cup.  Why was that a hard matchup for you guys?

            MIKE BRYAN: I think it will be totally different conditions in that match.  We thought when we got down to Australia it was playing extraordinarily slow with the big, heavy ball.  They had a lot of time to work their magic off the baseline.  We still served 9-6 in the final set tiebreaker.  It was a heartbreaker.  They can throw a lot of teams out there.  I think their best team on a fast indoor court is Clement/Llodra.  That's their best shot.  These guys, Gasquet and Tsonga, aren't going to have a lot of time from the baseline.  That's going to hurt them.  We'd rather see Gasquet and Tsonga actually.

            Q.  Andy spilled the beans last night.  He said Clement is registered at the hotel.

            BOB BRYAN:  Yeah, he's out there practicing today.  He's with the whole team working out.  It's not a bluff, because we know it, you know.  We're not going to be surprised last minute if he's on the card, you know.  They're just keeping their options open, you know, seeing who's playing better, see how the court plays.  That's the bottom line.  They have a lot of guys they can use.

            Q.  So what about the shoes?

            BOB BRYAN: The shoes, we did it last year, threw the shoes up there.  Kids are asking for everything:  Racquets, my necklace, my watch.  Some kid asked me for a shoes.  I'm like, I did it last year, let's do it again.  We're walking out of here barefoot today.  And the socks.  Little girl wanted a sock, and I gave one to her and her sister.  I don't know why.

            Q.  That's devotion.

            BOB BRYAN:  Hard core fans.

            MIKE BRYAN: See you up in Winston.