ITF Names Bryan Brothers Men’s Doubles World Champions

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that, for the eighth time in nine years, the American doubles team of Bob & Mike Bryan were named Men’s Doubles World Champions. On the women’s side, Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic & Katarina Srebotnik from Slovakia were named Women’s Doubles World Champions for the first time. Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic were also named 2011 ITF World Champions. A third Czech player, Jiri Vesely, has been named named ITF Junior World Champion along with Irina Khromacheva of Russia, while the ITF Wheelchair World Champions are Dutch duo Esther Vergeer & Maikel Scheffers. Vergeer becomes world champion for the 12th successive year.

The ITF World Champions will receive their awards at the annual ITF World Champions Dinner on June 5 in Paris during the French Open.

The Bryan Brothers were named Men’s Doubles World Champions for the eighth time in nine years. The brothers won two further Grand Slam titles, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, to match Mark Woodforde & Todd Woodbridge’s Open Era record of 11 titles. They won a total of eight titles during the year, extending their all-time record for career doubles titles to 75 events.

"Bob and I are very proud to receive this prestigious award as ITF World Champions," said Mike Bryan. "We always strive to excel at the Slams and finish the year as the top team and we’re happy we were able to do that in 2011. I want to congratulate all the champions and we look forward to another great awards dinner in Paris.”

Djokovic becomes the first man other than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to be named ITF World Champion since 2003. The 24-year-old enjoyed a remarkable 12 months, beginning with a 43-match winning streak, and ending with three Grand Slam titles, Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, and the year-end number one ranking. He won a total of 10 titles in 2011, with a 70-6 overall record.

“I am proud to have been named the ITF World Champion for 2011," said Djokovic. "Starting with victory in last year’s Davis Cup Final, this has been an almost perfect 12 months for me. I have always dreamed about becoming the best in the world, and to have won three Grand Slam titles and finished the year as number one is very special.”

Kvitova is the first Czech player to become a singles world champion since Ivan Lendl was honored for the fourth time in 1990. The 21-year-old edged out last year’s champion and top-ranked women’s player Caroline Wozniacki thanks to her first Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon before leading Czech Republic to victory in Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. She won a total of six titles during the year, including the year-end WTA Championships.

“I will cherish this award, which is the cherry on top of a wonderful year in which I managed to win Wimbledon, the WTA Championships, and together with the Czech team the Fed Cup," said Kvitova. "It was a dream year and something I will never forget.”