As a pair of American twins farewell professional life in Australia for the final time, their Launceston-born coach stands beside them.
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Taking out 118 doubles titles as a team - including six Australian Opens - Bob and Mike Bryan have been coached by David Macpherson for 13 years, with their careers coming to an end following September's US Open.
With a 6-3 6-4 third-round loss to fourth seeds Filip Polasek and Ivan Dodig ending things prematurely, the 41-year-old brothers were rewarded with an on-court ceremony reflecting on their careers.
"It was such a nostalgic ceremony, it kind of overcame the disappointment of losing the match," the Tasmanian said.
"The match didn't go the way we wanted and normally that's a tough feeling but then it was such a nice ceremony afterwards it kind of washed away the disappointment a little bit."
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Completing a farewell tour of their favourite events around the globe, sparking tremendous memories along the way, arguably the greatest doubles pairing of all time will play home tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, which Macpherson says will be extremely sentimental.
"it's just a really nice feeling to go to all the cities that they've played at in the past, where they've won so many titles - especially Melbourne - and just to always be appreciated and for them to have this feeling of accomplishment and enjoy the experience.
"It's a little bit different than it's always been - it's always been solely about winning every tournament that you possibly can - and that's still the goal as we show up to the event, still believe we can win the tournament but it's just the added feeling of nostalgia.
"It's a nice feeling."
Macpherson, a high-quality tour player in his own right having made the 1998 Australian Open doubles semi-final alongside American David Wheaton and acheiving a career-high of No.11 in the world, began coaching the brothers in 2005, splitting in 2016 before later re-uniting the following year.
Now splitting his time between the award-winning twins and fellow American John Isner, who was forced to retire from the Australian Open third round following a flare-up of a foot injury, Macpherson has certainly led both parties through periods of success.
Steering both Isner and the Bryan Brothers to success at Miami in 2018, Macpherson himself has had many personal triumphs, including head coach roles for the United States ATP Cup side and George Washington University, but it comes back to the 2006 and 2010 Australian Open victories.
"It was nice to see, just in Australia alone, they were showing some of the finals that the boys won on Rod Laver Arena.
"The first Australian Open title they won in 2006 was a great match between the boys and Leander Paes and Martin Damm and it was on the heels of Justine Henin having to retire early so it was an extra big final - everyone was there.
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"In 2010, they beat one of their great rivals, Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the final where they switched sides to play Mike on the forehand and Bob on the backhand specifically for that match because they had trouble beating them on their normal sides."
As the long and historic partnership between two of the world's greatest sportsmen and a humble Launceston coach reaches its final days, the 52-year-old former Launceston Church Grammar student says it has been a privilege.
"I'm really proud of them, they've been such champions, such incredible professionals and such great ambassadors for tennis and it's a credit to their family and it's been a privilege to share the journey with them."
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