For the latest edition of “Life in Pictures,” photographer Mark Peterson followed the mirror-image twins—Bob is lefty, and Mike is righty—as they played for charity before their 99th career doubles title at tournament in Cincinnati. They’ll be going for win No. 100 at the U.S. Open. Below, see their pre-match rituals, learn which one is a sucker for gimmicks that could give him an advantage, and find out why they hold hands when they’re winning.
8:47 a.m. Bob: Our hotel room was a mess. My daughter Micaela (at left) has her own Twitter account with 13,000 followers. Everyone onthe tour knows who she is. Her best photos are with Novak Djokovic.
9:21 a.m. Mike: When we turned pro, Bob and I lived together. We bought a house together. We were a package deal, but once we got married, we had to split it up. He lives in Miami (his wife’s family is Cuban), and I’m in Tampa.
10:14 a.m. Bob: It was the first day of the men’s doubles tournament, but we had an off day. We try to get used to the stringing, the balls, the court conditions, the heat. We spend between $15,000 and $20,000 each year on stringing.
11:16 a.m. Bob: Mike gets blisters if he doesn’t tape. We have to warm up our bodies a little more than we used to. A couple of years ago, I went gluten-free, like Mike. But after we won a tournament, I had a huge waffle.
12:07 p.m. Mike (at left): We’re on our way to a charity event, emceed by our dad, who used to own a tennis club. Bob would say he is the better driver. We shared a Mercedes and I totaled it. Bob: I am the better driver.
12:30 p.m. Mike: Bob likes to draw, so his signature is pretty artistic. He makes two Bs and puts a line through it, and he really takes his time while signing autographs. Bob: My autograph takes a half-second longer than his.
1:11 p.m. Mike: We beat the other team [in a charity game associated with the tournament], so we did a four-man chest bump with Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, an Indian-and-Pakistani pair: “the Indo-Pak Express.”
1:43 p.m. Bob: Holding hands when we’re winning is a shtick my dad has had us do for years. It seems to go over every time. My dad has all these shticks; we call them the dog-and-pony show.
4:35 p.m. Bob: This is a clinic, with two groups of 30 people who got 45 minutes with us. We just sat there and played against them. It was such a long day. We sweated our butts off, and a few people did beat us.
8:25 p.m. Mike (pictured): We had a big old jam fest with ten guys onstage, for a charity event. Bob: We play really well together, which does have to do with us being twins. Sometimes that will translate to the court.
10:00 p.m. Mike: I’m a sucker for every gimmick that gives you a one percent advantage. This is a Juvent. I was told it increases bone density. Bob doesn’t try out anything crazy. Bob: I’ll go to Mike’s little shop of horrors before matches.
10:05 p.m. Mike (right): Before we play, we usually get chicken-burrito bowls. Sometimes twice a day. They have Chipotles everywhere now, even near Wimbledon.
*This article appears in the August 25, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.
