Bryan Brothers overtakes John McEnroe’s record in doubles rankings – Tennis News
Another achievement for the magnificent Bryan Brothers, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, as they smashed John McEnroe’s record of reigning the top spot in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Doubles Rankings for most number of weeks.
The world number one American duo of the Bryans is tied with 271 weeks at the top spot individually, overcoming McEnroe’s record of 270 weeks as the number one player in doubles category. The twin brothers have another successful tennis season, with a number of achievements with their racquets and dominating all the other duos throughout the year 2011 to remain the top ranked team.
“It’s a great feeling to achieve the most weeks at No. 1. We didn’t really look at this record until this year,” expressed Mike to the news reporters, “271 weeks is an astronomical number. To achieve this record and surpass John McEnroe, who we’ve always looked up to, is awesome. This ranks up with our record of most team titles. It shows we were consistent throughout our whole career and we didn’t want to relinquish the top spot.”
The Bryans played 76 matches in the 2011 ATP season and stood victorious in 60 of them to retain their world number one spot. Bob and Mike fetched eight championship doubles events in the current season, extending their title count to a record of 75, most titles won by any doubles team in the history of the sport.
Their dominance over all types of tennis courts has been unchallenged by no other duo in the professional circuit. Bob and Mike took off the 2011 season with an impressive Grand Slam title victory at the Australian Open, defeating the fourth ranked Indian team of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the final of the mega event. Championship victories at Houston, Monte Carlo and Madrid were followed by a semi-final loss at the Roland Garros.
Bob and Mike clinched their first grass-court title of the season at the Queen’s club, again defeating Bhupathi and Paes, and then carried on with their winning momentum to bag the second Grand Slam trophy of the season at Wimbledon Championships. The Bryans were stunned in the opening round of the US Open and then finished off the season at an undesirable note, with a semi-final defeat at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The Bryan Brothers will take off the 2012 ATP season as the top ranked doubles team and have set even higher goals to achieve next year. They will be leading the doubles filed at the opening Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, next month as the top seeds.
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