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The Bryans Share 'The Last Time'

The most successful doubles team ever shares the last time they met a childhood idol and being famous helped them...

When you’ve been on tour for 18 years, you’ve got some good stories to tell! ATPWorldTour.com caught up with Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to ask the 37-year-old American twins The Last Time…

I had a travel drama?
Mike
: Pretty much every time we travel!
Bob: The flight here, I booked, and I thought I was booking the 10:15am flight, and instead I booked the 10:15pm flight! But luckily Mike’s wife is a logistics genius and she was able to get in there and change it without any change fees.
Mike: But we did pay about $650 on extra baggage. When you go with budget airlines and you have a lot of bags, you just get killed.
Bob: We usually have someone wait by the door and we hide the racquet bags, because those are a nightmare to try and get through security! Long story… let’s move on!

I lost something important?
Mike
: I was looking for my Rolex the other day. My big purchase last year was that I bought myself a Rolex. I finally splurged on myself. I’ve never bought myself anything nice, so I got a Rolex and… it disappeared! But my trainer had it. Not very exciting… Bob, what have you got?
Bob: My wedding ring fell out of my bag at the courts in Nice. I went back to the courts, re-traced all my steps and couldn’t find it. Then Mike’s car showed up for his transportation and I saw it sat there, just under the driver’s seat. It must have rolled under!
Mike: I did save Feliciano Lopez. He left his wedding ring on his shoe in Houston and took off and left for Monte-Carlo. I brought it. I was the carrier pigeon and gave it to him. It would have been lost forever!
Bob: Yeah, you’re a nice guy. 

Being famous helped me?
Bob
: Are we famous?
Mike: I don’t know… I don’t think so! We get random upgrades once in a while.
Bob: Sometimes we’ll get an American stewardess who’s a tennis fan and will say, ‘Oh, you Bryans are flying economy?! Come on, you can’t be in economy!’ And she’ll bump us up to business, or even to first, which happened to me going down to Australia, which was nice.
Mike: She brought me extra cookies.
Bob: Oooh!
Mike: You got free tickets to that FC Barcelona game the other day… That was pretty cool. They thought you were Kei Nishikori, though...

I strung a tennis racquet?
Bob
: Never strung a tennis racquet. I never learned how to string because I never wanted to string a racquet. So I still don’t know how to do it. If someone had a gun to my head, I couldn’t string a racquet.
Mike: We just don’t know how to do it. Don’t know where to start. Don’t how to tie the knots. It’s like a Rubik's cube.

I cooked for myself and others?
Mike
: Probably a long time ago. My wife does all the cooking. But I make a pretty good omelette. I think in December I whipped up some eggs for my wife and threw together some oatmeal.
Bob: I make a pretty good cereal.
Mike: No, you were making waffles last time I was at your house.
Bob: That’s right, I make waffles. They’re pretty good! I usually get the kids ready for school in the morning and I make them breakfast. But nothing fancy!

I met a childhood idol?
Bob
: Childhood idol was Agassi, growing up. Where did we meet him for the first time? Maybe Indian Wells back in 1989. Played against him on the tour in doubles and singles. Last time we saw him was probably a couple of years ago. We like Michael Jordan, never met him. Kobe’s one of our big idols as well. Saw him at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and took a picture with him. 
Mike: We’re huge Dave Matthews Band fans. We’ve been to 20 concerts. He came to the US Open. We really wanted to meet him. He was up in a suite, getting a beer and I actually sat there and watched him for 20 minutes, too nervous to go up. So I stalked him, finally went up and he was cool.

I shared a hotel room with another player?
Mike
: Does Bob count as another player? I shared a hotel room with him in Austin. We did an exhibition before Houston, and they only had one bed! It was king size. We didn’t spoon. Enough room to spread out!

I cried at a movie?
Mike
: I actually shed a tear in 'Meet Joe Black'. It has a sad ending. I think Brad Pitt dies.
Bob: It wasn’t that sad! You’re a wuss!
Mike: I was young! I was in high school. You cried during Titanic.
Bob: Did I? I don’t know… I haven’t cried in a long time.