adminNEW YORK. — With history on the line, the Bryan brothers finally met their match.
Trying to become only the second men’s tennis doubles team to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year, Bob and Mike Bryan saw their bid end with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss Thursday to Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in the US Open semi-finals.“As competitors, we hate to lose and we knew what was riding on this match and the opportunity of what we could have accomplished,’’ Bob Bryan said.
“And then in one sense, it’s a little bit of a relief where you get to kind of exhale for the first time in a few months.’’
For nearly 12 months, a span that included 28 straight wins in Grand Slam matches, seemingly every bounce and every bit of luck went the Bryans’ way. It put them two wins away from joining the 1951 Aussie team of Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman as only the second to capture the calendar Slam in men’s doubles.
But on a blustery afternoon in Arthur Ashe Stadium — their third appearance there of the tournament – the 35-year-old identical twins ran into a pair of fast-handed veterans who have never backed down from them.
‘’You leave that door a little ajar, I will find my foot through it,’’ said Paes (40), who has 13 major titles of his own, seven in men’s doubles and six more in mixed. ‘’Once I get my foot through it, I got my body through it. Once I get my body through it, I get him through it.’’
News of the result filtered over to Melbourne, where Sedgman woke up Friday morning and was greeted by a text from his daughter telling him his spot in tennis history was safe. But the 85-year-old former champion, whose doubles partner died in 2007, said there’s no denying the Bryans’ greatness. — AFP.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter