Calendar slam slips away from Bryan brothers
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With history on the line, the Bryan brothers finally met their match.
Trying to become only the second men’s doubles team to win all four grand slam tournaments in a single year, Bob and Mike Bryan saw their bid end with a 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 loss to Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the US Open semifinals on Thursday.
For nearly 12 months, a span that included 28 straight wins in grand slam matches, seemingly every bounce and every bit of luck went the Bryans’ way. It put them two wins away from joining the 1951 Aussie team of Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman as only the second to win the calendar slam in men’s doubles.
But on a blustery afternoon in Arthur Ashe Stadium — their third appearance there of the tournament — the 35-year-old identical twins ran into a pair of fast-handed veterans who have never backed down from them.
This match was no different.
“You leave that door a little ajar, I will find my foot through it,” said Paes, 40, who has 13 major titles of his own, seven in men’s doubles and six more in mixed. “Once I get my foot through it, I got my body through it. Once I get my body through it, I get him through it.”
News of the result filtered over to Melbourne, where Sedgman woke up yesterday morning and was greeted by a text from his daughter telling him his spot in tennis history was safe. But the 85-year-old former champion, whose doubles partner died in 2007, said there’s no denying the Bryans’ greatness.
“Obviously, they will go down as one of the best ever doubles pairings,” Sedgman said. “I really thought they had a good chance to break it.”
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