Meniscus Magazine asks the Bryan Brothers about being No. 1

Doubles partners, twin brothers and Washington Kastles teammates Bob and Mike Bryan perform their famous chest bump. (photo by Kwai Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Prior to their lone home appearance for the Washington Kastles, Bob and Mike Bryan spoke with reporters in a press conference. The twin brothers competed in men’s and mixed doubles against the San Diego Aviators, leading the Kastles to a 23-16 victory on July 20. We asked the Bryans about their respective numbers of weeks that they held the No. 1 world ranking – and why those statistics weren’t identical.

Kwai Chan: One of the statistics that you mentioned that, to me, is remarkable is from your own website, actually. It is claimed that you guys have been No. 1 for 455 weeks. That’s almost 10 years. Mike, I think you had 455 first-place [finishes], and then Bob, you had 440.

Bob: Yeah, I was having a baby and this jerk went and played without me.

Oh, is that what happened? [audience laughter]

Mike: It was controversial [smiling]. I went and played a Davis Cup match with Mardy Fish. We didn’t know it at the time, but they awarded points. They gave five to 10 points for a Davis Cup win. It was pretty minuscule.

Bob: He was nice. He actually offered to give the points back.

Mike: We met with the ATP president because we wanted to have the records exactly the same. And he said, you know, we can’t change the rule book.

Bob: We actually got all the Top 10 players to say, ‘Mike Bryan wants to give away his points.’ They all signed off. [Daniel] Nestor was like, fine. Leander [Paes] was like, great, give them back. We got them to sign off on it, but it didn’t get passed.

As a reference, the next person – No. 3 – is John McEnroe. He has 270.

Bob: Yeah, he’s not very happy. [audience laughter]

Photos: Washington Kastles 23, San Diego Aviators 16
all photos by Kwai Chan / Meniscus Magazine