Bryan brothers saved the life of doubles tennis

WASHINGTON

They are not doing it with mirrors. It just looks that way with The Fabulous Bryan Brothers, identical twins who, a week ago, set the professional tennis record for career doubles titles with their 62nd tournament championship.

Bob and Mike Bryan, also known as Mike and Bob Bryan, add to the looking-glass effect by the fact that one (Bob) is lefthanded and the other righthanded, by dressing alike on court, by exhibiting the same mannerisms - often hopping in unison while awaiting a serve - by using the exact same racket model, weight, strings and tension.

At 32 (Mike is two minutes older, Bob an indistinguishable inch taller at 6-4 and 10 pounds heavier at 202), the Bryans have won more than 600 pro matches, appeared in a record seven consecutive Grand Slam finals (in 2005 and 2006), won eight major tournaments (of 16 finals) and are 16-2 in Davis Cup play, including their contribution to the United States' 2007 Davis Cup title.

And all that is nothing compared to this: The Bryans are credited with saving doubles tennis from extinction.

"To be remembered for that," Bob said, "is probably our greatest legacy. In '05, doubles tennis was on its way out."

The brothers from Camarillo, Calif., west of Los Angeles, were just hitting their stride when tennis economics triggered a push by tournament directors and officials to excise doubles from tour events. The feeling was that tournament payouts to support doubles play - hotel costs, prize money - was not returned in terms of star power or fan interest.

Singles players always brought more attention and the Bryans themselves first got notice at the 2001 U.S. Open when they accidentally produced a singles double-take: On the tournament's first day, Bob was scheduled to play two-time Open champ Patrick Rafter in an Arthur Ashe Stadium afternoon match before Mike faced two-time Open champ Andre Agassi on the same court at night.

Both Bryans lost and, it was that year they "made the decision to strictly play doubles," Mike said. "To play singles we would've had to go to smaller tournaments."

They had won their first doubles title as 6-year-olds (in the Under-10 division) and were NCAA champions at Stanford before turning pro, but it was their work as doubles ambassadors, on top of championship performances, that convinced the sport's poobahs to keep the discipline. The brothers played exhibitions, raised money and agitated constantly for attention to doubles. They celebrate match victories with goofy chest bumps and generally steal the show.

Doubles were revived "because we're recognizable," Mike said, "but we wouldn't have been recognizable if we didn't excel on the court. That was our goal, to do well and be ambassadors for the game."

Their opponents in the first round of the tour event in Washington, University of Virginia team members Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz, recalled as young kids getting the Bryans' autographs several years ago at the same tournament - though they couldn't tell one twin from the other.

"I still can't, unless they're holding their rackets," Shabaz said. "It's interesting to suddenly be across the net from them. They're just so smart the way they play, changing pace on the serves. And, at the net, they really know how to clean up."

They do not intend to go away for a while. "The next goal," Bob said, "is to be at the U.S. Open. The Woodies" - the Hall of Fame doubles team of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woddbridge, who previously held the record of 61 titles - "won 11 Grand Slams. We could try for that."

It would be a good reflection on the sport.