Next week will mark an end of an era for doubles specialists Mike and Bob Bryan and their unique place in grand slam history.
On Thursday it was confirmed that Bob will miss Roland Garros as he continues to cope with an injury sustained during the Madrid Open. The 40-year-old injured his hip after landing awkwardly during the final of the tournament, forcing him to retire from the match. Twin brother Mike will continue playing in the tournament alongside Sam Querrey.
The withdrawal ends the run of 76 consecutive Grand Slam appearances by the Bryan brothers. It concludes in the City (of Light) where their streak began 19 years ago, in the last century. Just one fact to illustrate why the doubles pairing are regarded as one of the greatest of all-time.
Once upon a time, in 1999, arguably the most successful doubles pairing of all-time travelled to Paris to compete in their first ever Roland Garros tournament. Unfortunately, their stay in the French capital was shortened by Jonas Bjorkman and Patrick Rafter who sent Bob and Mike to pack up in the second round. The Bryans needed four more trips to France to claim their first ever Grand Slam title (of the record 16) in 2003. Without dropping a set, they defeated the defending champs Haarhuis/Kafelnikov.
Throughout one of the most remarkable streaks in tennis, their resume speaks for itself: 116 career titles, of which 16 of those occurred at Grand Slam level. In the majors they have contested 333 matches, winning 273 of those. This equates to a 81.98% winning percentage.
Their record Slam run will stand for many decades, if not forever. To put into perspective the longevity of the doubles pairing. This is what was happening in the world during the first year they started their Grand Slam run back in 1999.
– The euro as currency was established,
– The Mars Polar was launched by NASA,
– U.S. President Bill Clinton was acquitted in impeachment proceedings,
– The president of Russia was Boris Yeltsin,
– Former Warsaw Pact members Hungary, Poland and Czech joined NATO,
– Shakespeare in Love was awarded as Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards,
– The movie Gladiator was shot between January and May,
– NATO launched air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign state,
– The Melissa worm attacked the internet,
– The Dow Jones closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time,
– Bill Gates’ became the wealthiest individual in the world,
– Britney Spears (Baby one more time) and Cher (Believe) were on the music hit list,
– Actors such as Oliver Reed (Proximo in Gladiator) and George C. Scott (Patton) passed away,
– JFK Jr. died in a plane crash,
– Fred Trump (Donald Trump’s father) died,
– Bill Talbert , Hall of Fame tennis player, 8 time US Open champion in doubles passed away,
– Cici Bellis and Denis Shapovalov were born.
And one more significant thing occurred during that year:
– Roger Federer also played at his first Grand Slam (as the Bryans) at French Open!
