U.S. Open Diary: Ready to Play

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BOB: We got up a little late. We went to the deli across the street for our usual breakfast and arrived at the site around noon. We promised our dad we'd make a brief appearance at the cardio tennis media rollout. There was a huge tent with lots of reporters and bands. We did a few sound bites, and then met our dad who briefed us before we did our usual two-minute dog and pony show—which consists of explaining how we practice, the workouts we use, etc. All of these are high energy drills set to music. It was basically showcasing tennis as a fun and healthy way to workout. Denise Austin (the fitness mogul) and Mary Joe Fernandez were also there.

MIKE: Then we dashed out to court 4. The faster you run the less you have to sign autographs and pose for pictures. We were hitting, just the two of us, with our pal and coach from Chicago, Mark Bey. There was a great crowd watching while we went through our typical Bryan Brothers drills for an hour and a half. I feel like we're hitting well and have had a good run up to the Open.

BOB: I think we're going to play Wednesday and we'll be seeded number 2. We drew the tough French tandem of Arnaud Clement and Sebastian Grosjean as our first match. We are one and one with this team. They beat us at Indian Wells two years ago and we got them at Wimbledon in June. After practice, we were pumped and ready to go. We signed autos and did photos and then went to the players lounge for lunch, after which we headed back to the hotel. We want to be rested up and ready for our big match.

MIKE: Later in the day our coach called us and said we're third on the grandstand court. I love playing on that court and I think there should be a great crowd pulling for us. We're gonna give it everything we've got—hopefully rock the house and take those guys down! But they'll be tough. They return big and volley pretty well. They're both smaller guys but really quick.


Mike and Bob Bryan are 27-year-old identical twins who have been the #1 doubles team in the world for most of the past year. They have won 24 career titles including the 2003 French Open and they are the doubles team for the U.S. Davis Cup squad. The twins are filing daily reports from the U.S. Open for TIME.com.