The world No. 1 ranked men’s doubles combination of Bob and Mike Bryan have romped into a showdown with rivals Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, with the Americans recording an easy 6-1 6-4 semi-final victory over German Michael Kohlmann and Finn Jarkko Nieminen.
“It was our first easy match of the tournament. We came out and broke early … It’s kinda nice to jump on a team from the get-go,” said Mike Bryan. The Bryans were so dominant that the small crowd watching the match on Margaret Court Arena began to cheer when Kohlmann/Nieminen won individual points.
Kohlmann/Nieminen tried different tactics as the match progressed in an attempt to find a crack in the Bryan’s wall, including serving in an I formation, but to no avail. “Our coach watched a couple of their matches,” said Bob, “and he knew what they were going to do. You could see from their position what they were going to do - so we kind of had a beat on that and that helped us a couple of times.”
Late in the second set when Kohlmann/Nieminen both started on the baseline to receive second serves, it was time for desperate measures. But all the Bryans had to do was adjust the depth of their volleys, which caught their opponents too deep.
Outside of tennis, the Bryan brothers relax by making music. They have an album of music available online, and have plans to distribute it through tennis outlets around the globe. Following their 2009 song Autograph, featuring Serb Novak Djokovic and Briton Andy Murray, the brothers are planning a tribute song to one of their tennis idols, but will remain tight-lipped until they have approval from “him”.
The Bryan brothers, Australian Open men’s doubles champions in three of the last four years, say Canadian Nestor and Serb Zimonjic are a formidable team; the pair beat the Bryans five times in doubles finals in 2009.
The rivalry between the world’s top two men’s double teams has been growing, according to Mike Bryan. “In 2008 in the last game of the year, they broke our heart [when they gained the No. 1 doubles ranking]. Then in 2009, we broke their heart by getting the number one ranking in the last game of the year, so it’s pretty intense.”
But the Bryans are confident they have a few tricks up their matching red sleeves. “We obviously know their game really well, and we think we can change some things up from our past matches. We’re looking forward to getting some revenge.”
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