‘Like a freight train once we got hot’: How ‘twin energy’ fueled tennis’ greatest ever double act
When you spend every moment of every day with another person – eating, sleeping, training, competing – it’s hardly surprising that you should develop a formidable partnership, even less so if you share the same DNA.
For Bob and Mike Bryan, their “twin energy” was at the heart of their triumphs and titles on the tennis court, a synergy that only grew stronger as they traveled the world together for the best part of 23 years.
The Bryan brothers, as they became known in the tennis community and beyond, announced their retirement from the sport in August 2020 as the most successful doubles team in history: 16 grand slam titles, 119 tour-level titles and 438 weeks at world No. 1.
Their partnership peaked in 2012 and 2013 when, practically unstoppable, they won the Olympic gold medal and all four majors in the space of 12 months.
“When everything was flowing and we were really positive, it was kind of eerie – our feet were moving at the exact same time and we just knew where to be,” Mike tells CNN Sport. “It was like a freight train once we got hot.”
This year’s French Open marks 20 since the identical twins from California captured their first grand slam title, though they had little sense at the time of the huge success that would follow.
Instead, they were focused on gaining a spot in the USA’s Davis Cup team by impressing captain Patrick McEnroe at Roland Garros – which they duly did.
Their progress through the French Open doubles draw was swift and ruthless, the brothers sweeping aside opponent after opponent in straight sets before a fit of nerves on the eve of the final almost derailed their path to the title.
“At the time, you think it’s a one-shot deal and you never know if you’ll get there again,” says Mike, reflecting on the 2003 French Open campaign. “We were just thinking about it non-stop, it got in our heads.”
Driven by adrenaline, they won the last 16 points of their final against Paul Haarhuis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov to claim a 7-6 6-3 victory, laying the foundations for the success that would soon follow.
“We partied all through the night,” says Bob. “We went straight from the club to I think it was a 9 a.m. photo shoot at the Arc de Triomphe with the trophies and the photos are unusable. That’s why you probably have never seen it – because we were so tired.”
https://sites.google.com/oneweek2.com/102023full-hdfastxthaidubbed/home
https://sites.google.com/oneweek2.com/fast-x-2023-10-hd/home
https://sites.google.com/oneweek2.com/fast-xthai-hd-2023-hd/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/10-fast-x-2023-thai-dub/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/10-fast-x-2023-hd-thai/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/fastx202310hd/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/apequenasereia2023filmecomplet/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/assistirapequenasereia2023film/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/assistir-hd-a-pequena-sereia-2/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/ver-cuevana-la-sirenita-2023-o/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/verlasirenita2023hdpeliculaonl/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/cuevana-3verlasirenitalasireni/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/cuevana-3-ver-a-todo-gas-10-20/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/ver-hd-a-todo-gas-10-2023-pelc/home
https://sites.google.com/casvaro1.com/cuevana3veratodogas102023pelic/home
https://paste.toolforge.org/view/befc4f9b
https://ok.ru/video/5602095270539
https://caribbeanfever.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://pastelink.net/hhshrtd9
https://onlinegdb.com/J2NGe-Mxw
http://allabouturanch.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://paste.feed-the-beast.com/view/0142a296
https://www.onfeetnation.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
http://phillipsservices.net/UserProfile/tabid/43/userId/225310/Default.aspx
https://onecompiler.com/java/3za32bwxg
http://foxsheets.statfoxsports.com/UserProfile/tabid/57/userId/133987/Default.aspx
https://profile.hatena.ne.jp/kataka2/profile
http://playit4ward-sanantonio.ning.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://muckrack.com/katakanpada2-katakanpada2/bio
http://zacriley.ning.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://challonge.com/ca0luxmf
http://beterhbo.ning.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://www.pastery.net/hyhdwf/
http://healingxchange.ning.com/photo/albums/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
http://pastie.org/p/2BBsDg3tcKOEbTwiKJcDex
https://backlinktool.io/p/ULYeKqDiFdruK6xL99iJ.html
http://ben-kiki.org/ypaste/data/76846/index.html
https://pro.pasteshr.in/tsfq2o9rb2
http://beterhbo.ning.com/profiles/blogs/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://www.wowace.com/paste/cb717212
https://events.ajc.com/event/c111c5c19c1967bf713a0029ed1baed2
https://www.deviantart.com/morarisa/art/Screenshot-127-964764002
https://jsfiddle.net/zvfk9thr/
https://www.onfeetnation.com/profiles/blogs/like-a-freight-train-once-we-got-hot
https://paste.intergen.online/view/f6bdabbf
https://yamcode.com/awfawfwaf-2
https://rextester.com/MQKB41381
https://paiza.io/projects/05vwOZDcZGlE_MhVafOqaA
https://etextpad.com/zuqskjm5nm
https://paste.mozilla.org/EJCQr9t2
https://ide.geeksforgeeks.org/online-c-compiler/70776f13-878e-4449-b1d8-6ced9eab00c7
http://pastebin.falz.net/2501485
http://pastie.org/p/7Iejo2uUUrvPiOzIksoYV0
https://paste.cutelyst.org/CAYkEHceQ
https://dotnetfiddle.net/1tE5w7
While some tennis players switch between singles and doubles formats, the Bryan brothers devoted their whole careers to doubles and were steadfast in their commitment to each other.
It was only when Bob, the older twin by a couple of minutes, underwent hip surgery in 2018 that Mike sought a different partner and won Wimbledon and the US Open alongside American Jack Sock.
“We played every day together and lived together and just spent every moment together,” says Mike. “It worked out on the court – we were always on the same page and kind of moving like one entity.
“We knew that we were never going to break up with each other. And that kind of gave us that confidence too; you know you’re never going to turn your back on your brother and look for another partner.”
Bob agrees that singles was never on the brothers’ radar.
They were virtually inseparable over the course of their professional careers, even to the point of sharing a bank account. Tempers did boil over at times, especially during practice when they would hold each other to high standards.
“We practiced every time like we were playing a final,” says Mike. “Bob would get on me if I missed a couple balls and I’d get on him, and we had some rough practices. We had some physical altercations out there, but it did keep the quality extremely high.
“We actually only would do one-a-day practices because we went so hard. We’d fill maximum 90 minutes, but we wouldn’t even drink water. We probably only used two or three balls and just go drill to drill to drill to drill.
“By the end, we were just drenched in sweat. We practiced like it was a big final and he didn’t let me slack off for sure.”
Though fiercely competitive, the brothers never lost sight of their roles as entertainers. The chest bump – or Bryan bump, as The Stanford Daily named it during their college days – was their trademark after winning a tournament or a big point.