Word's best doubles players for Heineken Open

Reuters

BRYANS: American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the best doubles players in tennis, will play New Zealand's international men's tournament in January.

Relevant offers

Tennis

Azarenka rolls through to Qatar Open quarters Top seed Erakovic knocked out in Colombia Djokovic proud to receive Serbian honour Clijsters out of Indian Wells with injury Aussie tennis ace Tomic pleads not guilty Jones' entry proves bitter pill after defection Relegation looms for Kiwis in Davis Cup Croatia, Serbia, Austria into Davis Cup quarters Kiwis finish on a high with Davis Cup wins Woe for Federer as Swiss crash in Davis Cup

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the best doubles players in tennis, will play New Zealand's international men's tournament in January.

Heineken Open tournament director Richard Palmer was delighted to reveal the "rock 'n' roll" act of tennis as he announced a strong field for the January 11-16 event.

Getting the Bryan brothers for the doubles draw put the icing on an exceptionally strong singles field that has direct entries cutting off at 59.

The Bryans are the world's best doubles duo after winning the recent year-end championships in London. Collectively they have a staggering 114 doubles titles including seven Grand Slam wins and seven finals finishes.  

They are known for their chest bumps to celebrate winning points and play in a band of their own, having just released a CD.

Heineken Open organisers hope that if they get to the doubles final they might even pick up their musical instruments for the after-party that is being headlined by Kiwi singer Anika Moa.

This year they captured six titles in 11 finals, highlighted by their seventh Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open. They were finalists at Wimbledon. It was also the eighth straight year they had won at least five titles.  

In Davis Cup play they won first round and quarter-final matches to improve to 16-2 together - the most doubles wins as a team in US Davis Cup history. 

The pair's first Grand Slam title came in 2003 at Roland Garros and since then they have won three Australian Opens(2009, 07, 06), two US Open titles (2005, 2008) and one Wimbledon(2006). 

The best year of their careers came in 2005 where they featured in all four Grand Slams finals.  

"The Bryans are something New Zealanders haven't seen before. They are obviously top players, but it's the way they play and their rock 'n' roll brand of tennis which will create an atmosphere around the tournament. They're a great asset," said Palmer.

- © Fairfax NZ News