Bryan Brothers Open To Playing In 2021, Add Slinger Bag To Endorsement Portfolio

The winningest men’s Grand Slam doubles team of all time, brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, were set to say farewell to the tour during a final 2020 run, culminating at the U.S. Open in New York City, 25 years after the duo’s Grand Slam debut at the same tournament.

The pandemic may have changed all that. Or maybe not. 

“Right now, we are excited for the summer,” Mike Bryan says. “If we get to play the U.S. Open and Cincinnati, it might be enough to say our goodbyes. Do we want to play our last Open with no fans? We will see. We will play the summer out and talk about it.”

The brothers know that the grind of the tour takes its toll, both on their bodies and on their families. “Bob has three kids in school,” Mike says. “We are 42. This retirement did get blown up, that is life. Nothing plays out perfectly. It is not off the table we come back in 2021 and a lot of people are pushing us in that direction. We are just juggling the possibilities.” 

Mike, himself a new father, and Bob will next reach the court competitively this summer during the World TeamTennis season at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, starting in July. With that goal in mind, Mike says they have a concrete goal and are working to stay sharp. Early in the pandemic shutdown, the brothers would each hit a couple of times a week, but now they’ve upped their gym workouts and are spending more time on court. 

Part of that on-court movement comes with the help of Slinger Bag, a new product the brothers endorse. Designed as a next-generation ball launcher, the $550 portable device — it weighs 33 pounds — wheels onto the court and works on a five-hour battery charge, offering a range of speeds, launch heights up to 40 degrees and accessories that make training individually workable for players within a variety of skill ranges. 

“We are always looking for game-changing tennis products,” Bob says. “We’ve tweaked our technology our whole career to stay relevant, with strings, grips and rackets. When we saw this, it got us excited.” 

Slinger CEO Mike Ballardie, former Prince CEO and Wilson executive, had worked with the brothers during his time at Prince. “When we heard he was involved, he asked us to come on board,” Bob says. “The first time we tested the product we really loved it. We have had ball machines since we were 2 or 3 years old on the courts of California. It gave us the chance to put in extra reps when no one was around. We felt we got a really good base of drilling in because of ball machines. (The Slinger Bag) one-upped every ball machine.” 

Mike calls it a “one-stop” device. 

“It’s extremely encouraging to see demand and momentum of the Slinger Bag build in markets across the world, especially in North America,” Ballardie says. “As the Slinger Bag starts to feature on courts and across social media there’s been a clear sense of excitement and anticipation within the tennis industry, which has resulted in a spike in demand.” The Slinger Bag Tennis Bag Launcher, which debuted this spring, generated close to $1 million from its Kickstarter Campaign. Slinger Bag (SLBG) is a publicly traded company.

Bob says that with three kids, he loves using Slinger Bag with his family. The device handles 144 balls atop the launching mechanism, but the entire thing rolls for portability and comes with bag-style pockets to hold rackets and accessories. “You can keep everything in there,” Bob says. “It is a one-stop shop for ball machines. We all went with my family and we had hats, sunscreen, so much stuff to worry about. Slinger holds it all.” 

On a performance side, while the machine shoots a maximum of 45 miles per hour, the ability to determine speed and angle allow it to “put some nasty bite on the ball,” even at relatively lower speeds than top-end machines. The device has an oscillator that rotates the firing position. It is all run by a remote. “For us, “Bob says, “it has been great, especially during quarantine. Mike’s been using it in his backyard. Here in Florida, only two people per court are allowed, so if you have a coach you can take out the ball machine.” 

Mike says he enjoys the bag-like function, akin to rolling a large bag through the airport. “It feeds a pro ball,” he says. “It has nasty juice, like a (Rafael) Nadal forehand. If you can hit that on the rise, you’re ready for the tour. I have been going daily and for such a small ball machine it generates much more spin than the huge, bulky ones. You can move it around the court, it is cool.” 

Whether 2020 or 2021 marks the final end of the Bryan Brothers’ playing days, Bob says they haven’t looked too deep into what the business side of tennis will look like upon retirement. Instead, they plan to take more time off and get into a routine, although they note that the last few months have been the first real reset they’ve had in 22 years. 

“We’ve never been home this long and had a routine, able to wake up in my own bed, cook and spend time with my family,” Mike says. “We have had a good time during this quarantine. We took the golden nuggets out of it and look at the positives.”