The most successful doubles team in history are not finished just yet. Bob and Mike Bryan, who had previously said they would retire after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, which is taking place this summer, recently said in an interview with The Stanford Daily that they intend to play on for a couple more years after this summer’s Olympics.
Not finished yet
Four years ago, the Bryan brothers won the gold medal in London and said that they would push on until Rio. The pair have struggled over the last two years, going slamless for the first time since 2004 in 2015 and have been slipping down the rankings ever since. As other teams catch-up and overtake the legendary Americans, it seemed likely that they would, in fact, call it quits after Rio.
But as the team makes a charge at the French Open following a Masters 1000 title in Rome, they have revealed that they intend to keep playing after Rio. When asked about their potential retirement, Bob said “we said after we won London that we’d like to play Rio and then maybe call it a day. But now that it is just around the corner, we might like to stay on a big longer. Maybe one more year?” to which Mike added, “maybe two.”
Mike also explained that “I don’t think we can say we are excited about retirement. We are having too much fun and we love what we do. Look, nobody likes all the travel and all the time you have to spend on the road and in airplanes, airports, and hotels, but all in all, it has been a great journey.”
Adding to the legacy
The Bryan brothers are already considered to be the greatest doubles team in history. They own practically record in the game, including team titles (112), team major titles (16), match wins and weeks spent at number one. They’ve also won a career Golden Slam, career Golden Masters, Davis Cup, and ATP World Tour finals.
An Olympic gold would give the Bryans a second gold medal and a pair of career golden slams. Despite failing to win a major since the 2014 US Open, they still managed to win six Masters 1000 titles last year and have already won three titles this year, all on clay. They will play Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski in the quarterfinals of the French Open.