Bryan brothers show Farfan brothers tennis talent

One set of twins needs each other to reach greatness. The other is enjoying each other's company on the climb to the top of their sport.

Still fresh off their doubles title at Wimbledon, Bob and Mike Bryan were in Philadelphia on Tuesday as members of the Kansas City Explorers to take on the Freedoms. And, at halftime, they took part in a special celebrity pro set and played with Union midfielders, and fellow twins, Gabriel and Michael Farfan.

The top-ranked doubles tandem in the world, Bob and Mike complement each other beautifully on the court: Bob with the big serve and Mike a skilled returner. Bob is lefthanded. Mike is righthanded. And they cover a lot of court with their big frames: Mike is 6-3 while Bob is 6-4.

In 2001, the brothers decided they weren't going to go as far alone as they could together. They wanted to achieve greatness, grand slams and be on top of their sport. Together, they achieved that, winning 68 doubles titles and 11 grand slams together.

The Bryan brothers have all of the success the Farfans long for.

Each has appeared in a handful of matches this season for the Union, tallying one goal apiece, but the 23-year-old rookies are awaiting their next big step.

"I guess they're great soccer players," Mike Bryan said before the match. "Truthfully, we don't follow a lot of soccer. … I guess they're decent at tennis, can hit a few around. But we'll get some pointers on how to kick around after."

"We'll give them some pointers. They're probably going to be a little nervous. We'd be really nervous, going out in front of a stadium playing soccer. It's not what you do every day. It should be fun meeting other twins who are successful."

Michael Farfan played with Mike Bryan and Gabriel Farfan played with Bob Bryan in the short hit-around. Score wasn't kept, and the Farfans looked out of sorts with racquets in their hands. But the Bryans put on a show with twisting trick shots just moments after disposing of the Freedoms' Brendan Evans and Nathan Healy, 5-3, in the men's doubles set.

Twins who showed up to the Pavilion at Villanova for the match got to purchase buy-one-get-one-free tickets and twins in attendance were recognized throughout the match.

--Tim Rohan