By beating Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the Men’s Doubles 2013 Wimbledon Final, the Bryan brothers (Bob & Mike) are now the first pair ever to retain all four grand slam titles at the same time, not to mention being the Olympic gold medalists as well.
It was the third time they’ve won at the All England’s Club, making it their 15th Grand Slam title, but the 35-year old twins aren’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. With 91 career titles, maybe after making it a round 100 they’ll think about hanging up their rackets, although winning the 2013 US Open and making it a perfect year in terms of Grand Slam titles for them, not to mention making it five in a row in majors, is a bit higher up their list.
The Calendar Slam? That’s next for them, with September and the US Open coming up. It has been done once in Men’s doubles, but in 1951, in the pre-Open era. In Women’s doubles, since the beginning of the Open era, it has happened twice: Martina Navratilova & Pam Shriver in 1984, and Martina Hingis in 1998. Steffi Graf & Rod Laver are the only singles players to complete the calendar-slam in the Open Era.
With the win, they’ve won their last 24 matches, and are on a streak of 88 consecutive matches without dropping consecutive sets. In all matches over the past golden year, they’ve won 79% of sets, up from 70% earlier in their career. They’ve won 69% of tiebreakers, up from 58% before. And they’ve won 57% of all games, up from 56% before.
The secret to success? Talent, obviously, but there’s also the difference between most doubles partners, including those made up of more successful single’s players. Being brothers, it means there’s no chance this pair is ever breaking up over a mistake or a fight. It might not seem like much, but apparently, it’s one hell of a difference maker.