Bob and Mike Bryan, the 42-year-old twins who rewrote the doubles tennis record books, have reportedly retired.
“We just both feel it in our guts that it is the right moment,” Mike said, according to The New York Times. “At this age it takes so much work to go out there and compete. We love playing still but we don’t love getting our bodies ready to get out there. The recovery is tougher. We feel like we were competitive this year, last year, the year before. We want to go out right now where we still have some good tennis left.”
The Bryans, Olympic champions in 2012, said last November that they planned to retire after the 2020 U.S. Open, skipping the Tokyo Games in their final season.
The pandemic complicated those plans. The retirement announcement came four days before the start of the U.S. Open, which they did not enter.
“We weren’t in this last year to just play the matches and to get points or to make money,” Bob said, according to the report. “It was to really say our thank-yous to everybody and feel the atmosphere one last time. The crowds — that’s what make the U.S. Open magical in our minds. We really applaud the U.S. Open for getting going, and all the work they’ve put in to give tennis back to the fans on TV and to give players opportunities to compete again and make money. But it just wasn’t right for us.”
The Bryans won a record 16 Grand Slam doubles titles together, the first in 2003 and the last in 2014. From August 2012 to July 2013, they won all four Grand Slams and the Olympic title.
The Bryans withdrew from the Rio Olympics six days before the Opening Ceremony. They cited making their family’s health a “top priority” and later said Zika virus concerns were “a very small part of” the decision.
Their partnership nearly ended in 2018 when Bob underwent hip surgery. They reunited in 2019, reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals and winning two ATP tournaments.
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