Bob and Mike Bryan took the Stadium Court at the Citi Open as the home crowd cheered on. The American duo of identical twins have dominated men’s doubles for the past decade. They faced the second-seeded pairing of Croatian Ivan Dodig, and Brazilian Marcelo Melo, the team that defeated them in the French Open final this year.
With the American fans behind them, the Bryans quickly took charge in the match. Using almost a different doubles strategy after every point, they broke Dodig/Melo’s serve at 2-2 in the first set, and their confidence as well. They steamrolled through the rest of the match, never losing momentum. They emphatically captured their fourth Citi Open crowd, winning 6-4, 6-2.
Although Dodig/Melo were disappointed in their loss, they are planning on continuing their partnership on tour.
“There’s no reason that we split. We are having a great season, we won a Grand Slam and we are playing consistently at a high level. I hope that we can continue to play good tennis and there’s no reason to change anything," said Dodig.
In their post-match press conference, the Bryans expressed satisfaction and confidence heading into the rest of the summer hard court season.
“This tournament is really important for our confidence and our momentum going into the hard court summer. It was nice to get some revenge on a couple of teams we lost to this year," said Mike Bryan.
They also revealed their main key to success in doubles, which unsurprisingly is their close relationship as twins.
“I feel like the teams that are having the most success are the teams that have stayed together. It’s very hard to have a breakthrough at a Grand Slam when you’re a new partnership. Communication is very important in doubles. Dodig and Melo won the French Open, but they’ve been playing for five years before that.”
Perennially adored by fans for their accessibility, their behavior did not deviate from their fan-friendly reputation in Washington. They traditionally stick around after matches and practice sessions to sign as many autographs and take as many selfies with fans as possible. Both brothers even autographed a fan’s designer Birkin handbag from Hermes worth over $10,000.