'Soak it up': U.S. coach Bob Bryan wants the American men to make the most of their Olympic experience

WIMBLEDON—All eyes were on the prize at Wimbledon but Olympic chatter was prevalent, too, especially after the singles and doubles entries were officially unveiled at SW19.

TENNIS.com caught up with men’s Olympic tennis coach and Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan to discuss the upcoming Games on clay at Roland Garros as well as his Olympic memories, which included encountering LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul lead the way among the men in singles, with both Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe deciding to give the Olympics a miss.

Bryan won gold and bronze in doubles in his Olympic career—in 2012 at Wimbledon and 2008 in Beijing, respectively—along with twin brother Mike. That came after the disappointment of a quarterfinal loss in Athens in 2004 to eventual gold medalists Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu.

The U.S. didn’t win a medal in hot and humid Tokyo in 2021 after picking up three in Rio in 2016.

Here’s our Q&A with Bryan, edited for brevity and clarity.

Bob, participation is such a pivotal aspect of the Olympics. But winning silverware presumably is a goal, too. What are the goals this time around after what happened in Tokyo?

As a captain of the team, I’m only focused on getting the guys ready to do their best and to try to perform for the U.S. and try to win a medal. Obviously, we know it’s challenging. It’s red clay. We’ve got a couple of Californians on the team. I grew up on the hard courts there. I never played on clay until I was in the pros. So obviously I know it’s not maybe everyone’s favorite surface but our guys are dangerous on anything. They’re experienced. They’re not young guys anymore.

They’ve done the clay-court seasons many times over. They’ve had huge wins over many, many top players, so it’s all about putting it together at the right time. I think it’s going to be a magical atmosphere that’s going to bring out special performances in players. I think you’re either going to rise to the occasion or you might crumble under the pressure. All our guys are gamers.

What message will you be giving to the players?

I would just say enjoy it, soak it up. That first time in Athens, I think Mike and I were crippled by the weight of expectations. And we left there devastated. We didn’t really soak up the experience as much as we could have. We had blinders on. I would say take the blinders off and meet all the other athletes. Hear their stories and do the pin trading, which is a really fun part of the Games. I think these players are going to remember this experience for the rest of their lives. I would say 95% of athletes aren’t there to win a medal. They are just so pumped to be there so it’s a very joyful environment. I know a lot of the guys want to stay in the village and just really, relish the whole experience.

Q: So will they be staying in the village or a hotel?

A: We have an option to stay at a nice hotel and maybe some of the older players might do that just to try to get better sleep. And I know our event starts the day after the opening ceremonies so that’s also something to think about. The opening ceremonies are pretty physical. You’re on your feet most of the day. So we’ll see who decides to participate in that.

It’s all going to be up to our players, their choice. I’ll have to ask each one individually.

Q: Ben and Frances decided to skip Paris. As a former player yourself, is this something you understand?

A: I’m not shocked by any decisions by the players. Everyone’s got their personal journey and individual goals for the season. And going from hard to clay to grass to clay to hard is challenging for anyone. If your goal is to peak at the US Open, it might not be the most ideal situation for you. So I support and am behind Ben and Frances, and I understand where they are coming from. But for those guys that are going, I think they are going to have a wonderful time.

Q: How excited are you, since the event is only weeks away?

A: There’s nothing like the Olympic energy. The Olympics for Mike and I was a huge part of our career. It was very high up the goal list and one of the reasons why we focused on doubles. We have some incredible stories from our Olympic experiences and that gold medal is still the trophy everybody wants to hold when they come over to the house. So, pumped to be back in a different role and helping the team any way I can and I’m happy that Mike’s coming along for the ride as well.

But just excited about the opportunity to help the players and I really love the guys that are on the team. I believe in them and think we have some great chances to win some hardware for the U.S.

What are some of those stories and memories?

Just walking around the Olympic Stadium in Athens for the first time, shoulder to shoulder with Martina Navratilova. And we’re both just giggling like school children. I had my camcorder and then in Beijing getting to go to kind of a pep rally with two Presidents, getting to meet Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Just being around such greatness was inspiring, and it was a progression in our Olympic success.

We were heavy favorites in Athens and came up one round short. We were supposedly a shoe-in for a gold and came up with heartbreak. But during that time we had a chance to see Michael Phelps win his first gold medal, which was really cool. But we left there with a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. Then got to Beijing and came away with a bronze which was really emotional because usually in tennis when you lose you go home. This time you have to tie the shoelaces and refocus and try to bring something home and add to the medal count. We won a dramatic match against a French team who had beaten us in the Wimbledon final [editor's note: Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra]. And there was a lot of history with those guys.

Our coach, David Macpherson, never gets emotional but he was emotional after we won that one. We were smiling ear to ear on the podium and all the way home. And when we got home, the fans said, ‘What happened? Why didn’t you bring home the gold? Michael Phelps won 12 (laughs). What’s wrong with you guys?’ It went from the front of the trophy case into the kitchen drawer, and then we had to shift our sights to London. Winning that was really the pinnacle of our career and that feeling carried us on court for a couple of years after just because we were so happy. Any type of adversity on court, down a break, was no big deal. And we had our greatest run.

We won the gold and then we won the US Open, Australian Open, French and Wimbledon. And it was all fueled by that confidence and great feeling from being on the podium here in London.