By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, February 26, 2014

 

Ahead of their World Tennis Day showdown at Madison Square Garden, Mike and Bob Bryan discussed John McEnroe's scathing remarks about men's doubles.

Photo Source: AP

Mike and Bob Bryan had only good things to say about American tennis icon John McEnroe on Wednesday during a conference call ahead of next week's BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but that doesn't mean the the all-time winningest doubles team in men's tennis history doesn't want badly to secure a victory when they meet John and Patrick McEnroe in the doubles portion of the exhibition.

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McEnroe made headlines last January when he took a couple of shots at the Bryan Brothers, and doubles in its current form, saying “'Most doubles players, I hate to say, are the slow guys who were not quick enough to play singles. Would the Bryan brothers have made it as singles players? No. What do you think they are playing doubles for? I like them and single handedly they are trying to keep doubles going, but sometimes I hear people saying they are the greatest doubles team--I’m like “excuse me?”

The Bryans were asked about McEnroe's comments today, and while the good-natured twins don't appear to be holding a grudge, they weren't all that thrilled to hear McEnroe's comments, either.

“Obviously we saw his comments,” Mike said. "It's not fun to read that stuff. I've spoken to him and we've kind of aired it out. We're always doing our best to support doubles and popularize doubles and we're always positive about the game. It doesn't help doubles to have John McEnroe say that kind of stuff, but we've spoken about it, he's got a lot of respect for us, we've got a lot of respect for him.”

Just so nobody is worried, revenge isn't mission number one for the twins.

“We're not going to go out there and try to kill him or anything – we're friends,” added Mike. "It will be a fun match. We're not looking to go out there and lose, we want to go out there and show some good tennis and take care of business, but it's an exhibition and we're going to look to entertain the fans.”

Mike agrees that while McEnroe may have just turned 55, he's proving night in and night out on the Power Shares Series Tennis Tour that he can still play. Just last night he nearly defeated James Blake, more than 20 years his junior, barely falling in a tiebreaker.

“He's still John McEnroe,” Mike said. “He's competitive, he's in great shape. He probably still thinks he can play with us. We want to show him some of our skills, too. I'm sure there be a lot of smiles and laughs, and hopefully it's top quality, too.”

The BNP Paribas showdown will also feature Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray. It will take place on Monday, March 3 as a part of World Tennis Day.