The Hall of Fame's Twinduction Day
An interview with Bob and Mike Bryan on the eve of their International Tennis Hall of Fame induction.
The revamped induction ceremony for the International Tennis Hall of Fame takes place Saturday in Newport, Rhode Island, putting it on the eve of the U.S. Open instead of the weekend after Wimbledon.
It’s the start of a golden stretch for the Hall, with legends queued up for rapid succession in years to come: 20+ Slam champs Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Rafael Nadal are all due in soon, with some not-too-shabby talents like Andy Murray, Ash Barty, and Angelique Kerber also on the horizon as shoe-ins.
This year’s class is pretty stellar too, featuring Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan, and Mike Bryan.
The Bryans occupied separate lines on the ballot, but they do everything together, including winning 16 major men’s doubles titles, and this interview I did with them a few weeks ago in anticipation of their induction. (I also spoke with them for Bounces back in March, you may recall, and their answers in this interview about the U.S. Open mixed doubles event, and their correct prediction that Errani/Vavassori would prevail, also already showed up on Bounces earlier this week).
This conversation with the Bryans—after the twins and Sharapova took part in a Hall of Fame “Be Legendary” youth tennis clinic in Roehampton—was more purely about their imminent Hall of Fame induction and how they’re preparing for it.
Bob and Mike are two very well-liked guys within tennis, and celebrations of them will surely be whole-hearted by everyone in the sport.
An Interview with the Bryan Brothers
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: So how has this sort of almost, like, pre-victory tour for the Hall Induction been so far, building up to the big day?
Mike Bryan: It's been fun. We've been doing a few events, the Journey to Newport events, and it's been cool. A couple nights ago, we were speaking and behind us, we had Stan Smith, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova. We had, like, literally a thousand Grand Slams standing behind us. And sometimes you're like, 'Whoa, I'm not worthy!' So it's pretty amazing and humbling. And then the other people in the room: it's like [ITF president] David Haggerty and [U.S. Open tournament director] Stacey Allaster--all the powers in tennis.
So it's been really fun. And we're starting to now think about the speech coming up that we gotta put together; it's pretty much thanking so many people that were instrumental in our careers. But yeah, Bob's got a countdown on his phone, the days leading up.
Bob Bryan: It's 49 days.
Mike Bryan: 49 days, so we're like, 'OK, maybe it's time to start thinking about what we're gonna say.' But yeah we're totally excited for it.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You guys are gonna be a rare thing, up there together at the same time at the podium?
Bob Bryan: I think so. When we did our eighth grade valedictorian speech, my dad suggested we do it together.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You guys tied for valedictorian?
Bob Bryan: We got co-valedictorian because we copied each other's homework and split up the workload (laughs).
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Naturally.
Bob Bryan: But we did that speech together and it seemed to go pretty well, so we might try that act again.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: There's plenty of comedy duos you can look at, at various award shows or whatever. You could have a lot of fun up there, being there with both of you, I think. And you guys obviously are such naturals together, your whole lives.
Mike Bryan: Yeah, it'll be probably better to go as a team up there and just kind of ping-pong back and forth because, I mean, we're a package deal.
Bob Bryan: And there's only so much Bryan people can take.
Mike Bryan: And we're going to be thanking the same people.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: You've obviously met these people before, the Stan Smiths and Billie Jean Kings of the world. But I guess in this Hall of Fame way, you now are sort of like formally shoulder-to-shoulder with them in this world. I would guess that feels cool?
Mike Bryan: Yeah, I think it's just kind of surreal. Like, we thought we maybe had a chance for the Hall of Fame when we shut it down, but just to be actually now in this whole process and and getting congratulated by the likes of like Billie Jean King and getting the pats on the back from them, it shows how important the Hall is.
And there's only a couple hundred people in the Hall Fame, so it does put a kind of a bow on our career. And now you're introduced as a Hall of Famer, which is unreal. So I think it's the ultimate honor. And we're just learning how special it is now on this journey.
Bob Bryan: Yeah, the whole year has felt like a dream come true. We've seen the induction on TV over the years; all of our idols have gone there. But we didn't realize there'd be this amazing build-up.
I just want to thank [Dan] Faber and [Jeff] Harrison and Patrick [McEnroe] and Kim [Clijsters] for what they've done for the Hall. They've made it bigger and better. They've improved the museum. They've started this 'Be Legendary' program, and it was their idea to have this 'Be Legendary' journey, and we're lucky to be part of it.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Did you guys know your co-inductee, Maria Sharapova well at all when you were on tour?
Bob Bryan: She helped us launch our foundation back in 2009. She was incredibly gracious to spend time to help us get it off the ground and help us raise money. And I remember she came on stage and auctioned off a racquet. She didn't need to do that for us. She was an ultimate competitor, and I just loved watching her do her thing on TV and to get to know her a little bit. She's a great person.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: What are you guys doing with most of your time these days when you're not getting inducted into the Hall of Fame? How is retired life treating you?
Mike Bryan: Yeah, I mean, we're focused parents now. That's the No. 1 priority: the kids. And it's good not to be traveling week-to-week so we can be there for the day-to-day activities of taking our kids to school, picking them up.
Bob's already taking his kids to tennis tournaments every weekend, and they're really serious with their tennis and their music; mine are still 5 and 2. And yeah, we really enjoy it.
And then we're excited about the Davis Cup team [of which Bob is captain], and we did the Olympics last year. So we're still involved in tennis.
Bob Bryan: Yeah, right now for me it's full-on with the kids. But it's a good sprinkle [of tennis]. We'll go to the [U.S.] Open and Indian Wells. So it's great to still travel a little bit and be around.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: I've heard Michaela doing anthems, I think, I've been in there when she's done that.
Bob Bryan: She did the finals of the US Open, which was a thrill for everyone in the family. We'll be at Cincy this year; our band's playing, got a gig there. She's gonna do an anthem. And then our band is playing at the U.S. Open. So we're still doing some music.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Are you guys playing in Newport?
Bob Bryan: They have a great act playing [Fitz and the Tantrums]. It's a big time band.
Mike Bryan: I'm not sure we made the cut.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: That's not what got you inducted.
Mike Bryan: But we did learn the song by The Script, that 'Hall of Fame' song by The Script, just in case they need us. So we've got that one ready (laughs).
Thanks for reading Bounces! -Ben