A Look Back At The Bryan Brothers' Gold Medal Run

The Bryan Brothers have captured 79 career doubles crowns

	The chest-bumping 34-year-old twins completed the Golden Slam of doubles (sweeping all four major titles + gold medal).

Aug. 7, 2012

Stanford Olympic Page

Official London 2012 Olympic Page

STANFORD, Calif.- Bob Bryan `98 and Mike Bryan `98 have accomplished just about everything during their outstanding careers, deservedly earning a reputation as the most prolific doubles team in the history of professional tennis.

The only noticeable tournament miss among their record 78 career doubles crowns? An Olympic gold medal.

Make it 79, as the Bryan Brothers defeated France's Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6 (2) over the weekend to claim gold at the 2012 London Olympics, held at the All-England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in Wimbledon.

"This is the biggest win of our career," said Bob Bryan to NBC Sports analyst Justin Gimelstob following Saturday's match.

"Playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon and winning the gold medal is a dream come true," agreed Mike Bryan, who also captured the bronze medal in mixed doubles with Lisa Raymond. "We can stop tomorrow and have a big smile on our face for the rest of our lives."

The chest-bumping 34-year-old twins completed the Golden Slam of doubles (sweeping all four major titles + gold medal). However, the top-seeded Bryan Brothers were challenged throughout their entire Olympic tourney run. Of their 11 total sets played over five matches, seven were decided via tiebreaker.

Bryan Brothers At 2012 London Olympics
First Round: d. Thomaz Bellucci/Andre Sa (Brazil) 7-6, 6-7 (5), 6-3
Second Round: d. Nikolay Davydenko/Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 7-6 (6), 7-6 (1)
Quarterfinals: d. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (Israel) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (10)
Semifinals: d. Julien Benneteau/Richard Gasquet (France) 6-4, 6-4
Championship Match: d. (2) Michael Llodra/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-4, 7-6 (2)

That's not to say the Bryan Brothers hadn't come close during the world's biggest international competition. In two previous Olympics appearances, the Bryan Brothers earned a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008 and reached the quarterfinals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"This could be our last Olympics, so there was a sense of urgency," explained Bob Bryan. "We got the bronze in Beijing, which we were proud about, but our whole goal this year was to upgrade to something a little more shiny. And we did."

Of the Bryan Brothers' 79 career doubles championships, 11 are Grand Slam titles. The Bryans finished 2011 ranked as the No. 1 doubles team for the seventh time in nine years.

Both players earned All-America honors twice (1997, 1998) in their careers, with the 1998 campaign being their most memorable. Fresh after capturing the NCAA team title with a 4-0 win over Georgia, the Bryan Brothers were crowned NCAA Doubles champions while Bob Bryan also snagged the NCAA Singles title.

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by Brian Risso, Athletics Communications/Media Relations.