What's going on with the Bryan Brothers?

[kabob]

Is it just me or does it seem as if the Bryan Brothers are struggling to win titles ever since they switched from Wilson to Prince? Having the Tennis Channel at home, thankfully I've been able to watch their matches at a couple of tournaments now, including the Aussie Open, and it just seems like they're losing to teams that they should beating (and in a few cases, dominating).

I can only remember them winning one title since July of last year when it was officially announced that they'd started playing with Prince Speedport Blacks and, of course, no Grand Slam titles. So far this year, they've yet to win a title including losses in the quarters in Australia. Just recently a loss in the final of Delray Beach (to Jaime Murray and Max Mirnyi who only teamed up a few months ago and hadn't been able to penetrate deep into a tourney yet) and today they lost to two kids fresh off the college ranks

Honestly, if it wasn't for their victory in Davis Cup, I'd consider them mediocre. As it is, they're only 5th in ranking points so far this year. What gives? Maybe they should consider switching back to Wilson for their own good.

 

[Tecnifibre_Rackets]

It's good tht they can't win eveything now though. The field is becoming tougher fordoubles now, because there are many top singles players who are playing more doubles, and partnering with each other. The racket might have some effect, but I don't think tht's the whole story, they r just playing reall good doubles teams now who are very determined to win.

 

[Fedace]

Remember that they clinched the Davis cup with that Prince Frame. and also they showed mercy against Lipsky and Martin.

 

[kabob]

It's good tht they can't win eveything now though. The field is becoming tougher fordoubles now, because there are many top singles players who are playing more doubles, and partnering with each other. The racket might have some effect, but I don't think tht's the whole story, they r just playing reall good doubles teams now who are very determined to win.

Eh? I don't know what you mean by that. Other than this week's win by Tursunov and Berdych (playing against Youzhny [sp] and Philip K.) at Rotterdam, all the tournaments are still being dominated by doubles specialist/teams. And the final of Rotterdam in doubles only turned out the way it did with four top singles players because all the seeded doubles teams got upset early on. Strangely enough, the same thing happened on the singles side of the event...

 

[kabob]

Remember that they clinched the Davis cup with that Prince Frame. and also they showed mercy against Lipsky and Martin.

I mentioned winning Davis Cup in my first post. But, honestly, I can't give them too much credit since they rarely play established doubles players in Davis Cup. Usually, they're up against a pair of guys that normally play singles that are thrown together for just that day.

 

[Fedace]

^^Hey but Bryans are playing the best singles of their lives, did you see how good they were in Davis cup playing singles, they looked like top 20 players. besides bryans are getting paid, millions by Prince, so they definitely do not care

 

[kabob]

Come on, they're not the Williams sisters. They've got a ton of pride in their accomplishments and in winning as evidenced by the work they put in. I'd start to question myself if after winning so much the last 5 years, I suddenly couldn't put together a string of wins to capture even minor titles.

 

[EasternRocks]

I don't think its the racquet problem.

 

[couch]

It's the how the doubles is played these days. I mean come on they play no-ad scoring and a super breaker for the third set. I bet if they played with normal scoring, at least a complete third set, they would be winning more titles.

 

[MEAC_ALLAMERICAN]

^^Hey but Bryans are playing the best singles of their lives, did you see how good they were in Davis cup playing singles, they looked like top 20 players. besides bryans are getting paid, millions by Prince, so they definitely do not care

Sometimes I honestly think you beleive some of the stuff you post.

Are you serious?

This is probably a minor slump, they will most likely get over going into Indian Wells and Miami.

 

[kabob]

I don't think its the racquet problem.

Probably not, but the right equipment definitely makes a huge difference in doubles.

 

[BreakPoint]

Remember that they clinched the Davis cup with that Prince Frame. and also they showed mercy against Lipsky and Martin.

Mercy? I was at the match today and the Bryan Brothers definitely did NOT show any mercy. They were trying their best to win but were just completely outplayed by Lipsky and Martin. If they had played normal tennis with ad instead of no-ad, which is what they do on the ATP tour for doubles now, the Bryan Brothers would have lost that match like 6-2, 6-3 because they won most of their service games by winning the deciding no-ad point, whereas, Lipsky and Martin were holding their serves pretty comfortably throughout the match. Lipsky and Martin were pressuring the Bryans on their serves with great returns the whole match, especially Martin who was on fire and returning serve like a madman and like his life depended on it. When Bob Bryan got his serve broken for the first time early in the 2nd set, he got so pissed that he hit a ball way out into the stands. When have you ever seen the Bryans do that? They definitely wanted to win badly having just lost last week in Delray Beach.

Congrates to Lipsky and Martin on their first ATP title!! They really deserved the win!

 

[MEAC_ALLAMERICAN]

^^^^


Fedace isn't serious about some of the stuff he says, he just post stuff to see how far they will go, at least I would hope so.

 

[kabob]

Mercy? I was at the match today and the Bryan Brothers definitely did NOT show any mercy. They were trying their best to win but were just completely outplayed by Lipsky and Martin. If they had played normal tennis with ad instead of no-ad, which is what they do on the ATP tour for doubles now, the Bryan Brothers would have lost that match like 6-2, 6-3 because they won most of their service games by winning the deciding no-ad point, whereas, Lipsky and Martin were holding their serves pretty comfortably throughout the match. Lipsky and Martin were pressuring the Bryans on their serves with great returns the whole match, especially Martin who was on fire and returning serve like a madman and like his life depended on it. When Bob Bryan got his serve broken for the first time early in the 2nd set, he got so pissed that he hit a ball way out into the stands. When have you ever seen the Bryans do that? They definitely wanted to win badly having just lost last week in Delray Beach.

Congrates to Lipsky and Martin on their first ATP title!! They really deserved the win!

That's exactly my case in point! The Bryans still have that fire and try their damnedest every match but these days they're getting outplayed by teams good, decent and recent. That's what I find worrisome.

 

[AJTx0]

Probably not, but the right equipment definitely makes a huge difference in doubles.

True, but it is usually indeed the player, rather than the racquet itself.

 

[FEDEXP]

I guess it has not been posted yet: The Bryans have split up, reason being that they have each decided to pursue singles careers.

 

[Leublu tennis]

I guess it has not been posted yet: The Bryans have split up, reason being that they have each decided to pursue singles careers.

You aren't serious, are you? How about a cite.

 

[Leublu tennis]

Mercy? I was at the match today and the Bryan Brothers definitely did NOT show any mercy. They were trying their best to win but were just completely outplayed by Lipsky and Martin. If they had played normal tennis with ad instead of no-ad, which is what they do on the ATP tour for doubles now, the Bryan Brothers would have lost that match like 6-2, 6-3 because they won most of their service games by winning the deciding no-ad point, whereas, Lipsky and Martin were holding their serves pretty comfortably throughout the match. Lipsky and Martin were pressuring the Bryans on their serves with great returns the whole match, especially Martin who was on fire and returning serve like a madman and like his life depended on it. When Bob Bryan got his serve broken for the first time early in the 2nd set, he got so pissed that he hit a ball way out into the stands. When have you ever seen the Bryans do that? They definitely wanted to win badly having just lost last week in Delray Beach.

Congrates to Lipsky and Martin on their first ATP title!! They really deserved the win!

Thank you for the report. Interesting to read your analysis.

 

[tenniscore]

these threads are ridiculous- first, kabob doesnt have his facts right and second you have people like FedExp posting garbage too..The bryans won a carreer high like 11 titles last year including Country Wide, D.C and Madrid, Basel, Paris then Davis Cup and finalists in many others - after switching to the Speedport Black - which is an insane stick...period. Get a clu Gotta back up my bat. Lets chat at the end of 2008 considering Bryans were breaking title reacords left and right in 2007 and had more titles (11 I believe) than any other year in their career...check the info from the Prince website on bryans here and this is before the end of the year too: http://www.princetennis.com/tennis/files/newstipsSubLinks.aspx?aid=106&ntid=1

 

[sureshs]

Interesting. Both Lipsky and Martin have two-handed backhands, while the Bryans are 1 handed. Maybe the 1 hander is going to die in doubles too, along with the theory that it is more suitable to doubles.

 

[cknobman]

I agree with tenniscore, the Bryans had their best year last year and won plenty of titles with the Prince stick.

Maybe they have not won every tournament so far this year but its not like they are playing terrible either.

They are #4 in the points race so far this year with only 1 major played and no masters yet. For f_ck sake!

 

[Lefty5]

its kinda like playing the new england patriots. People come out gunning for them because they are the team to beat, everytime. Pairings are made, shots are practiced, strategies are formulated, all with the intent of beating them. That's what happens when you're on top.

 

[Lisabosemcd]

I think the problem is with the total fruit-basket-turnover in the doubles teams this year. The Bryans are one of the few teams that didn't dissolve. Everyone knows how they play. But, the Bryans are battling all new teams with the mix-ups. And, I think they're approaching 30.

 

[BreakPoint]

Thank you for the report. Interesting to read your analysis.

You're quite welcome.

The Bryan Brothers were definitely frustrated during that match. It wasn't that they played badly. They even said that during the interview after the match. It was just that Lipsky and Martin played better than them. I think that's what shocked the Bryan Brothers a bit. I'm not even sure what Lipsky and Martin's ranking was before the tournament as they have never won one on the ATP tour level. They had to get a wildcard just to get into the SAP Open last year.

 

[BreakPoint]

11 K-Six-One Tour 90s; 8 O3 Speedport Blacks

Wait, you use BOTH the K90 AND the Speedport Black?

Aren't those two racquets pretty much at the opposite ends of the spectrum?

 

[BreakPoint]

Interesting. Both Lipsky and Martin have two-handed backhands, while the Bryans are 1 handed. Maybe the 1 hander is going to die in doubles too, along with the theory that it is more suitable to doubles.

Nope, nothing to do with it. In fact, Lipsky playing the ad side couldn't return hardly any of Bob Bryan's lefty serves that spun out to his backhand because his two-handed backhand didn't have enough reach. The whole match I kept thinking, if only Lipsky could hit a one-handed backhand he would have returned most of those serves. Contrast that with the Bryan Brothers who had no trouble returning serves or crushing flat drives past the net man for winners with their one-handed backhands.

 

[BreakPoint]

I think the problem is with the total fruit-basket-turnover in the doubles teams this year. The Bryans are one of the few teams that didn't dissolve. Everyone knows how they play. But, the Bryans are battling all new teams with the mix-ups. And, I think they're approaching 30.

The problem with that theory is that Lipsky and Martin have been playing together since they played on the Stanford team and they've been out of college 4-5 years now so they have been a doubles team for a very long time.

 

[robertk29]

maybe they should put more energy into hitting the tennis ball instead of all that bouncing bumping touchy stuff..

 

[JohnP]

I don't know why people are acting like Lipsky and Martin are totally new to the circuit and are not capable of elite play. They have been playing together on the tour for several years now and are top 50 I believe. They beat Mark Knowles and Mahesh Bhupathi earler in the tournament (not exactly slouches) as well. Good for them.

 

[naffi]

It's the stupid-tiebreak system. Why can't they play a whole match? What's so super about officials trying to rush players off the court. It's like my husband says, "Let the men decide it."

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