Todo mundo está falando agora das finais de simples do Australian Open, Clijsters x Li Na, ou Na Li – como preferirem – e Murray x Djokovic.
Mas, o sábado é dia de final de duplas e tem muitos números e recordes em jogo no embate entre os irmãos americanos Bob e Mike Bryan, que estarão no Brasil na outra semana para jogar o Brasil Open, e Leander Paes e Mahesh Bhupathi, da Índia.
Depois de terem se tornado os maiores campeões de todos os tempos no ano passado, passando os lendários australianos “Woodies” – Mark Woodforde e Todd Woodbridge, os Bryans podem se tornar, ainda neste ano, nos maiores vencedores de Grand Slams. Atualmente tem 9 títulos, contra 11 dos recordistas “Woodies.”
Só por estarem na final já deixaram todos os outros duplistas da história para trás, em número de decisões de Grand Slam. São 18.
Bhupathi e Paes estão em busca de completar o Grand Slam. Se vencerem o Australian Open, terão os trofeus dos quatro torneios mais importantes do mundo, juntos. A carreira deles é longa e já jogaram com diversos parceiros.
Tudo isso me chamou atenção em um comunicado que recebi da ITF e reproduzo aqui, com todos os recordes em jogo nesta final em Melbourne.
Ah, é a primeira vez que as duplas se enfrentam em 10 anos.
Road to the Final
| BRYAN/BRYAN | BHUPATHI/PAES | |
|
d. Scott Lipsky/Rajeev Ram 63 36 64 |
1st Round |
d. Ivo Karlovic/Dusan Vemic 57 63 60 |
| d. Carlos Berlocq/Pere Riba 76(6) 63 | 2nd Round | d. Feliciano Lopez/Juan Monaco 76(2) 64 |
| d. Benjamin Becker/Michael Kohlmann 75 62 | 3rd Round | d. No. 13 Marcel Granollers/Tommy Robredo 64 46 64 |
| d. No. 6 Jurgen Melzer/Philipp Petzschner 63 76(7) | Quarterfinals | d. No. 8 Michael Llodra/Nenad Zimonjic 64 64 |
| d. Eric Butorac/Jean-Julien Rojer 63 62 | Semifinals | d. Max Mirnyi/Daniel Nestor 76(3) 46 63 |
BRYAN/BRYAN
- Defending champions Bryan/Bryan are bidding for their 5th Australian Open title following their successes here in 2006 (d. Leander Paes/Martin Damm), 2007 (d. Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi), 2009 (d. Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles) and 2010 (d. Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic). They are contesting their 6th Australian Open final in 7 years, having also been runners-up in 2004 and 2005.
- The Bryans are today bidding for their 10th Grand Slam title. As well as winning here in 2006-07 and 2009-10, they won 2003 Roland Garros, 2006 Wimbledon and the 2005, 2008 and 2010 US Open. They sit in 2nd place for most Grand Slam doubles titles won by a team in the Open Era.
Most Grand Slam team doubles titles (Open Era)
| Rank | Team | No. of titles |
| 1. | Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde | 11 |
| 2. | Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan | 9 |
| 3= | Peter Fleming/John McEnroe | 7 |
| John Newcombe/Tony Roche* | 7 |
* also won pre-Open Era titles
- By reaching the 2010 Australian Open final, the Bryans broke the Open Era record for the most Grand Slam final appearances by a team. They are making their 18th appearance in a Grand Slam final [see table overleaf]:
Most Grand Slam team doubles final appearances (Open Era)
| Rank | Team | No. of finals |
| 1. | Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan | 18 |
| 2. | Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde | 15 |
| 3. | Peter Fleming/John McEnroe | 10 |
| Bob Lutz/Stan Smith | 10 | |
| 5. | Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor | 8 |
- Bryan/Bryan’s 2006 Wimbledon victory saw them complete a career Grand Slam of doubles titles. They are 1 of 7 doubles teams to own a career Grand Slam, alongside Frank Sedgman/Ken McGregor, Lew Hoad/Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson/Neale Fraser, John Newcombe/Tony Roche, Jacco Eltingh/Paul Haarhuis, and Mark Woodforde/Todd Woodbridge.
- The Bryans have reached at least one Grand Slam final per season every year since 2003.
- This is the Bryans’ 52nd Grand Slam doubles event, and 12th straight Australian Open. They have played on the tour together for over 15 years, having made their team debut as wildcards at the 1995 US Open.
- The Bryans won 11 titles in 2010: Australian Open, Delray Beach, Houston, Rome, Madrid, Los Angeles, Toronto, Cincinnati, US Open, Beijing and Basel. They have won a total of 67 titles together. They became the 4th team in the Open Era to register 50 titles or more after Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde (61), Peter Fleming/John McEnroe (57) and Bob Hewitt/Frew McMillan (57).
- The Bryans finished 2003, 2005-07, 2009 and 2010 as the No. 1-ranked team. They are currently jointly ranked No. 1 on the ATP doubles rankings.
- Bob or Mike Bryan have also have won 9 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles between them. Mike has won 2 with Lisa Raymond, the 2002 US Open and 2003 Roland Garros, while Bob has won 7 with 6 different partners: the 2003 US Open (Katarina Srebotnik), 2004 US Open (Vera Zvonareva), 2006 US Open (Martina Navratilova), 2008 Roland Garros (Victoria Azarenka), 2008 Wimbledon (Sam Stosur), 2009 Roland Garros and 2010 US Open (both Liezel Huber).
- Bob Bryan played in the mixed doubles here this year. He teamed up with Liezel Huber and, as No. 1 seeds, they gave a walkover in the 2nd round to wildcards Sally Peers and Carsten Ball.
- The Bryans became the third brothers to win any Grand Slam event in the Open Era after fellow Americans Luke and Murphy Jensen (1993 Roland Garros) and Sandy and Gene Mayer (1979 Roland Garros). The Bryans are also the most successful brothers in terms of titles won in the Open Era; Tim and Tom Gullikson are the second best with 10 titles.
- Bob Bryan plays lefthanded and Mike righthanded. They are coached by David Macpherson.
BHUPATHI/PAES
- Bhupathi/Paes are looking to complete the career Grand Slam of doubles titles. The pair has teamed up at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2002 Australian Open.
- Bhupathi/Paes have won 3 Grand Slam titles together at 1999 Roland Garros (d. Goran Ivanisevic/Jeff Tarango) and 1999 Wimbledon (d. Paul Haarhuis/Jared Palmer), and 2001 Roland Garros (d. Petr Pala/Pavel Vizner).
- This is Bhupathi/Paes’ 6th Grand Slam final as a pair. They reached the Australian Open doubles final together in 1999, losing to Jonas Bjorkman and Pat Rafter, and the US Open final in 1999, losing to Sebastien Lareau and Alex O’Brien.
- Bhupathi had the chance to complete the career Grand Slam of doubles titles at the 2009 Australian Open. He lost as No. 3 seed (w. Mark Knowles) to today’s opponents in the final.
- Since 2002, Bhupathi and Paes have teamed up to represent India at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, the 2006 Asian Games, where they won the gold medal in men’s doubles, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where they won a bronze medal in the men’s doubles event. They have played Davis Cup together since 1995 and have a staggering 25-2 win-loss record, their only two losses occurring in 1996. This is the longest winning streak by a doubles team in Davis Cup.
- Paes and Bhupathi are the only two Indian players to win Grand Slam men’s doubles titles in the Open Era.
- Bhupathi has won a total of 47 career doubles titles with 12 different partners, 24 of those with Paes.
- Paes has won 44 career doubles titles with 10 different partners, 24 of those with Bhupathi.
- In 1999, Bhupathi/Paes reached the finals at all four majors, a feat which had not been accomplished within a calendar year since Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman reached all four finals in 1952 (winning three). The Bryans are the only other doubles team that has reached the finals at all four majors in one calendar year in the Open Era, doing so in 2005. (The Woodies, from 1996 Wimbledon through 1997 Wimbledon, played in five consecutive Grand Slam tournament doubles finals, winning four.)
- Bhupathi and Paes are both Grand Slam doubles champions: Bhupathi has won 4 majors, Paes 6:
| BHUPATHI | PAES | ||
| Grand Slam titles (4) | Partner | Grand Slam titles (6) | Partner |
| 1999 Roland Garros | Leander Paes | 1999 Roland Garros | Mahesh Bhupathi |
| 1999 Wimbledon | Leander Paes | 1999 Wimbledon | Mahesh Bhupathi |
| 2001 Roland Garros | Leander Paes | 2001 Roland Garros | Mahesh Bhupathi |
| 2002 US Open | Max Mirnyi | 2006 US Open | Martin Damm |
| 2009 Roland Garros | Lukas Dlouhy | ||
| 2009 US Open | Lukas Dlouhy |
- Bhupathi is playing in his 10th Grand Slam final. He played a total of 5 Grand Slam finals with Paes (1999 Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open, and 2001 Roland Garros), 2 with Max Mirnyi (2002 US Open, 2003 Wimbledon) and 2 with Mark Knowles (2009 Australian Open and US Open).
- Paes is playing in his 13th Grand Slam final. He played a total of 5 Grand Slam finals with Bhupathi (1999 Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open, and 2001 Roland Garros), 1 with David Rikl (2004 US Open), 2 with Martin Damm (2006 Australian Open and US Open) and 4 with Lukas Dlouhy (2008 US Open, 2009 Roland Garros and US Open, and 2010 Roland Garros).
- Bhupathi completed a career Grand Slam of mixed doubles titles at the 2006 Australian Open. He has won 7 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in his career with 7 different partners (1997 Roland Garros with Rika Hiraki, 1999 US Open with Ai Sugiyama, 2002 Wimbledon with Elena Likhovtseva, 2005 Wimbledon with Mary Pierce, 2005 US Open with Daniela Hantuchova, 2006 Australian Open with Martina Hingis and 2009 Australian Open with Sania Mirza).
- Paes owns 6 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in total – 1999 Wimbledon with Lisa Raymond, the 2003 Australian Open and 2003 Wimbledon with Martina Navratilova, as well as the 2008 US Open and 2010 Australian Open and 2010 Wimbledon titles with Cara Black.
- Bhupathi and Paes both played the mixed doubles event here. Bhupathi and Anastasia Rodionova gave a walkover in the quarterfinals, while Paes teamed up with Cara Black, losing as No. 4 seeds in the 2nd round to Yung-Jan Chan and Paul Hanley.
Paes won a bronze medal, as a singles player, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, matching his father’s achievement as part of the Indian field hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. His mother also participated at the same Olympics in
