LONDON — All this talk about no Americans left at Wimbledon strikes Mike and Bob Bryan as sort of odd.
After their semifinal victory — on the Fourth of July, no less — these 35-year-old identical twins from California are one win away from becoming the first team in the history of Open-era tennis to hold all four major titles at the same time.
"The Bryan Slam," they'll call it, but don't look for that news to knock baseball, hot-dog-eating contests or Andy Murray out of the headlines in either the United States or Britain.
The Bryan brothers play doubles, and despite their history making success, they live in a world where their games aren't fully appreciated and fame is hard to come by.
"The hardcore tennis fan loves doubles, but the casual sports fan doesn't know enough about it," Mike Bryan said. "They love stars. Doubles players aren't stars."
If their list of accomplishments belonged to a singles player, they'd be considered among the best of all time.
—Their 14 Grand Slam tournament titles would tie them for second with Pete Sampras.
—Their 310 weeks at No. 1 would be eight more than Roger Federer's record.