Bryan brothers come to town for tennis exhibition

Tennis fans in New Mexico will soon be seeing double.

For the sake of accuracy, that’s doubles action they’ll be viewing.

Identical twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan are clearly the winningest men’s doubles duo ever. Or at least the best since Major Walter Wingfield, an exacting Welshman, set down rules for lawn tennis in 1873.

The Bryans will be coming to Albuquerque’s Pit Dreamstyle Arena on Thursday, Sept. 28. The exhibition begins at 7 p.m.

The chest-bumping Bryans will be part

of what is being called the Albuquerque Tennis Classic. The evening will also feature a singles match between Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish. When Fish and Querrey are finished, they will face the Bryans.

Facing the Bryans across the net has never been easy. The brothers have won 113 ATP Tour titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles championships in pro careers that began in the 1990s.

To list all their achievements as a doubles tandem would cause Wikipedia to implode. This much is known: The Bryans have been ranked No. 1 in the world for a record 11 years. They have two Olympic medals (gold and bronze), dozens of Davis Cup match wins and an NCAA doubles championship. Want more? This twosome has enough junior trophies to put a gold mine out of business.

The hard-serving Querry has had a standout year. He reached the semifinals of Wimbledon ,where he upset World No. 1 Andy Murray. Querrey has played in Albuquerque before. Ten years ago he took on Pete Sampras in an exhibition at the Pit.

Fish turned professional in 2000. At one point he was the No. 1-ranked American. He has career wins over such stars as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Murray.

The September exhibition will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Mexico with a special silent and live auction.

“UNM is thrilled to host the Albuquerque Tennis Classic,” said Mike Haggerty, UNM’s assistant athletic director of events. “Albuquerque has a vibrant tennis community, and bringing role models of this caliber to our city will have a tremendous impact on the future growth of the sport.”