Bryan Brothers Fall To Young Guns in Wimbledon Final
Playing in their first event together as a team, American Jack Sock and Canadian Vasek Pospisil took down Americans Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to capture the Wimbledon doubles final on Saturday.
The Bryan brothers are the most dominant doubles tandem in Grand Slam history with 15 major titles under their belts, but have struggled in recent Grand Slams, failing to reach the final in the last three major events before making the Wimbledon final.
The 21-year old Sock and his 24-year old Canadian partner had a simple strategy to try and upset the 36-year old brothers:
“Close your eyes; hope you play the best tennis of your life,” said Pospisil.
The pair did just that but needed five sets to do so. It wasn’t easy as the Bryans fought off four match points in the final game, before finally being broken as Sock ripped a forehand winner on Mike Bryan’s serve to seal the victory.
The final was the first time a doubles title match featured four players from North America since 1983, and Sock becomes the youngest player to have won a men’s double and mixed doubles Grand Slam title.
“We had a lot of fun,” said Sock. “People could see that. I think that’s part of why we did well. We really enjoyed being out there, enjoyed the moment. It was both of our first times on Centre Court there. As kids we grew up watching this tournament. This is what we kind of dreamed of doing. To be able to go out there and play the best doubles team of all time and to get a win was pretty incredible."
As for the Bryans, the Grand Slam drought continues as the tandem will look forward to the US Open to snap the streak and add to its record 15 titles.
“When you put yourself in these big title matches and you don’t come out on top, they sting,” said Mike Bryan. “We’ve been in 26 Grand Slam finals; we’ve lost 11 of them. Those are daggers. But we usually bounce back. It’s going to motivate us to go hit the gym. You can’t win ’em all.”
