When Bob Bryan injured his hip at the Madrid Open, it wasn’t ever guaranteed that he would get back on the court again competitively with his brother Mike. Bob underwent hip surgery over the summer and was able to make his return in Brisbane at the beginning of the year.
The best doubles team of all time wasted no time getting back in the winner’s circle with a win over the Skupski brothers at the Delray Beach Open. At 40 years old, they know this is what they consider the “final chapter” in their illustrious careers, but they are still finding ways to play their best tennis.
Today’s match marked the first time since 1977 that two sets of brothers faced off in an ATP tour-level final. The Bryans got off to a slow start getting broken in the early stages of the match but broke back shortly after. They won the first set in a tiebreaker before saving three break points in the second set for a 7-6(5) 6-4 win.
Bob spoke about how tough it was to recover after the injury. “When I went down in May, I thought I was done.” He credits his wife for getting him back on his feet and giving him the motivation to keep playing.
Bob Bryan also urged Great Britain’s Andy Murray to have the same procedure that he had done. Bryan was able to recover quickly after the operation even at 41 years old, which should be promising for fans of Andy Murray if he chooses to get the procedure done.
While there is a lot of change at the top of the rankings on the singles side on the ATP tour, there isn’t too much change on the doubles side.
It will be interesting to see how the Bryans fair in Indian Wells with what’s typically the strongest doubles field of the year. Many of the top singles players including Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev opt to play doubles for the week in the California desert as they typically come in short on match play.
It’s still to be determined how the Bryans will fair the rest of the year with the challenges that the ATP tour possesses, but today’s final proved that even at 40 years old, they can still compete at the highest level and add to their impressive 16 major finals as a pair.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
