U.S. Open 2012: Bryan Brothers Set Record With Doubles Championship Win

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The American doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan continued their dominance on Friday, winning the U.S. Open men's doubles title on Friday against Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4.

The win is the 12th Grand Slam for the duo, who has won a record 78 titles together in their career.

The championship puts them ahead of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde for the most in the Open era. They also tied Bob Lutz and Stan Smith with their fourth U.S. Open title. If the brothers win another major, they will pass John Newcombe and Tony Roche, who won 12 titles as a team before the Open era.

"We had to play our best tennis against these guys," Mike told to the Los Angeles Times. "Leander is like a fine wine. He gets better with age."

Throughout the match the brothers were in total control and never faced a break point.

The second-seeded Bryans hadn't won a Grand Slam since last year's Wimbeldon and previously lost this year to the duo of Paes and Stepanek at the Australian Open final.

The brothers grew up in Camarillo, California and also won the gold medal at this year's London Olympic games.

"We're tight. We have that special [bond] that no one can break," Bob Bryan said to ESPN.com. "Even our significant others get jealous of how close we are. When I got married, Mike and I had to get divorced." 

The brothers have had a great run at the U.S. Open, including in their third round match when they were against the ropes against Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipski, who were two points away from an upset. While tied 5-5 in the second-set tiebreaker, Bob hit a casual yet improbable between the legs shot to keep the rally going.

After the trick-shot was returned, Bob struck back with a forehand winner to take the lead in the tiebreak. On the next point the brothers took the set on a precise lob shot.

Mike and Bob won their first Grand Slam back in 2003 at the French Open and haven't gone a full year without winning a major since 2004. In total, they have five Australian Open titles, four U.S. Open titles, two at Wimbeldon and one French championship.

The brothers will also play in the Davis Cup against Spain along with Americans John Isner and Sam Querry. They have a career 18-2 record in Davis doubles matches and previously won the Cup in 2007 playing alongside James Blake and Andy Roddick.

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