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Bryan brothers elected with Sharapova to International Tennis Hall of Fame

Victoria Chiesa | October 24, 2024


The most prolific doubles team in the history of men's tennis, Bob and Mike Bryan, will be inshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame next year. 

 

The twins, and five-time Grand Slam singles champion champion Maria Sharapova, received enough votes in recent weeks to make them eligible to take their place amongst tennis' all-time greats in Newport, R.I. The group will be formally inducted next August.

The Bryan brothers, who retired in 2020, won 119 titles together over the course of their two-decade tennis career that began in 1998. Sixteen of those were Grand Slam titles, as they won at least one Slam title together for 11 consecutive seasons, and a gold medal in London in 2012 completed their career Golden Slam. They hold the record for most weeks atop the ATP doubles world rankings with 438, and are just one of four ATP doubles teams to complete the career Grand Slam together in the Open Era.

 

They also currently hold the U.S. record with 25 Davis Cup matches won, and were part of the 2007 Davis Cup championship team which, to date, is the Americans' last title in the storied competition. In addition to the litany of achievements with his twin, Mike Bryan also won the US Open and Wimbledon with fellow American Jack Sock in 2018, ranking him No. 1 all-time with 18 career men's doubles major titles. He held the world No. 1 doubles ranking for a total of 506 weeks during his career.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images.

Turning pro in 1998, the Bryans' first career final came a season later in 1999, where they lost to the team of Jim Courier and Todd Woodbridge in Houston. They lifted their first trophy together in 2001, in Memphis, and their first major came on the red clay of Roland Garros in 2003. A 2005 US Open trophy followed, and 2006 wins at the Australian Open and Wimbledon completed their boxed set.

 

Their longevity continued well into the next decade: Their milestone 100th career title as a pair came at the 2014 US Open, and their last came at the 2020 Delray Beach Open.

 

Russian-born Sharapova, meanwhile, is set to be the first WTA player enshrined in Newport's all-time annals since Conchita Martínez in 2020 as one of the most recognizable champions of the 21st century. After bursting onto the world stage with a career-defining victory at Wimbledon at age 17, Sharapova spent more than 400 total weeks ranked inside the WTA's Top 5 and is one of only 10 women all-time to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles.

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