http://www.wimbledon.com
by Helen Gilbert
Beaming Bob and Mike Bryan lifted their second Wimbledon trophy and, in so doing, created history by equalling Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde's record for the most Grand Slam team doubles titles in the Open Era.
The top-seeded Americans, who won here in 2006, made light work of last year's runners-up, Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau, to claim their 11th Grand Slam 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(2). It was their 73rd career title and they dedicated the achievement to their grandfather who is in hospital battling cancer.
The current Australian Open champions have been in glittering form since winning their fourth Queen's title two weeks ago and their path to the Wimbledon final only served to sharpen their skills. They had to play an epic third round match that finished 16-14 in the fifth; a meeting with defending champions Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in the quarter-finals and a five-set thriller against Michael LLodra and Nenad Zimonjic.
But while the final had all the hallmarks of a fascinating affair, Tecau and Lindstedt failed to live up to expectations. The Romanian/Swedish pair teamed up at the 2010 Miami Masters 1000 event and since then have notched up an impressive five titles together, but it was a decidedly rusty partnership that showed up on Centre Court.
Tecau, in particular, suffered with his serve and in the second game a double fault on the first and third point made it easy for the Bryans to snatch an early break. The brothers were rarely threatened and a winning backhand volley by Mike sealed the set with just 27 minutes on the clock.
The pattern was repeated in the second when Tecau was broken again in the opening game and Mike engineered yet another winning backhand volley, this time with a leap, to take the second set.
The third set boiled down to a tie-break, but the brothers dominated again, racing to a 6-2 lead before Lindstedt netted a forehand to hand the brothers their second title.
Speaking after the match, Mike said: "This is a Wimbledon title. This is as special as it gets. I always thought we'd play our best at Wimbledon and we've lost three heartbreaking finals. To get on that board again, to have two Wimbledon titles, is really special. And then to equal the Woodies, a team that we idolised, the greatest team in our mind, is unbelievable.
"To get their title record and get the Grand Slam record, I'm trying to figure out what's left. We'd love to try and get to 12 and do that at the [US] Open, but those guys have been really gracious. They're the first to come up to us and congratulate us."
Bob revealed the title was extra special as their 90-year-old grandfather had surgery earlier in the week. "He went in for serious surgery. He had a cancerous tumour cut out. This one was for him. Right before he went in for the surgery, we won that [third round] 16-14 in the fifth. I know he was really scared to go in."
Mike said the twins have four grandparents who are all aged 90. "We feel like, in some certain way, we're keeping them going with our tennis. My grandma has marked off every point we ever played in our whole career, which is wild. She's got a stack of yellow note pads this deep. So they're following it closely. Whatever we can do to keep them happy, give them a little joy."
Bob admitted the brothers had talked about retirement but they have no plans to hang up their rackets anytime soon. "I think we can see the finish line now, which makes it easier to work hard. We see our time out here as I think five or six more years." But he quickly added: "I think we're going to milk it as long as we can."