Seeking return to top of their game, and the rankings
Throughout their record-setting doubles careers, Bob and Mike Bryan have been paragons of professionalism. But last year, they decided they were not professional enough — at least for their advancing age.
The 2015 season was uneven by their standards, marked by bouts of niggling injuries. It had the 37-yearold Bryans rethinking their training methods, off-season habits and travel needs.
When they contacted their trainer in September to prepare for this year, the message was clear: Take us to a new level.
“We want to get back to No. 1,” Bob told Emile Hadad, a Florida-based trainer who has worked with the Bryans since 2011.
“I’m in your hands,” he added. “Whatever you say, I will do it.”
The Bryans finished last season 44-16 with an ATP Tour-leading six team titles and a runner-up finish at the French Open. But for the first time in a decade, the Bryans, who own 16 major titles, failed to win a Grand Slam tournament together.
Bob or Mike had held the No. 1 individual doubles ranking since September 2012, but in November, they lost it to Marcelo Melo of Brazil.
With a shot to retain the year-end No. 1 team ranking at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, they came up short, falling in the semifinals to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, whose victory sealed the pair’s first No. 1 finish.
“Stacked up against our career and the past 17 years, it probably wouldn’t rank as one of the best,” said Mike, who is right-handed. “It was a little patchy.”
The Bryans, who are now ranked No. 2, arrived at the Australian Open hungry and retooled. They have won the Open six times, more than any other major. They last prevailed in Melbourne in 2013, with third-round losses the last two years.
In interviews in November during the World Tour Finals, the Bryans, who are twin brothers, spoke about finally starting to feel their age.
They hinted at complacency, especially after coming two matches shy of winning all four majors in 2013. They conceded that they could do more.
“Losing that top individual spot has kind of jolted us a little bit,” said Bob, a left-hander. “I’ve already got my off-season all organized and dialed in. Usually, I kind of just waltz into it and figure it out.
“Coming into an offseason after dominating and blowing away the field for No. 1, you think that you’re invincible and you continue doing what you’re doing. This year has been a learning process. It shows that what we are doing we need to improve, especially the off-court stuff, especially as we get older.”
They insisted last season’s lull was not caused by a lack of mental freshness. It was physical, the accumulated erosion of more than 1,200 matches each and countless miles traveled over an 18-year career.
“Stuff starts to wear out and break down,” Mike said.
Over the past 13 seasons, the Bryans have finished No. 1 a record 10 times and No. 2 the other three years. They have spent a total of 438 weeks at No. 1, most of them without any longterm physical setbacks.
They acknowledged after a lackluster year that they needed to do more to maintain a physical edge.
They cleared their calendars. Instead of barnstorming to exhibitions, they shut it down except for one local event. They did not touch a racket for three weeks. Mike traveled to South Africa for vacation. Bob hunkered down at home.
“We would only leave ourselves 10-day offseasons, for the most part,” said Bob, who spent seven weeks at home with a routine that involved making breakfast and getting his two older children ready for school, training, and then picking them up in the afternoon.
Under Hadad, who calls himself a “corrective exercise specialist,” they went to work. In his North Miami Beach studio, Hadad put Bob and Mike through several weeks of rigorous training.
First, he concentrated on shoring up Bob’s degraded left hip. When Mike arrived in late December, he strengthened his sometimes troublesome right shoulder.
Then they focused on footwork, agility, core strength, balance and flexibility drills using foam rollers, medicine balls, cables and bands. The sessions lasted about two hours every other day.
“It was very advanced core training that requires balance and coordination,” Hadad said. “Now they are in amazing shape — the best since I’ve known them.”
Time, too, is on their side. Doubles specialists have been nudging the boundaries of career longevity — a trend in singles as well.
Leander Paes, 42, captured his eighth Grand Slam doubles title at the 2013 U.S. Open at age 40. Last week in Sydney, Daniel Nestor, 43, became the first player to win 1,000 doubles matches. Nestor is the oldest player to hold the individual No. 1 ranking when he was 40 in August 2012.
There is no reason to think the Bryans cannot be a leading factor on tour for several more years if they can remain physically sound.