Mike and Bob Bryan have been one of the dominant pairings in men's doubles since 2005. The identical twins from America were beaten in the final of last year's Masters Cup here in Shanghai, but they're returning this month to stamp their name on an event as epic as its name suggests, the ATP World Tour Masters 1000. The Bryans told TALK about their chances, the power to veto each other’s girlfriends, and their, um, fascinating tennis-rock side project.

Who do you see as your main competition this year?

Bob: We have had many close and tough matches with Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia. They have had a great year with seven titles, including Wimbledon. They are both big servers and also return and volley pretty well.

Mike: Another top team is Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic. They have had an outstanding season, winning Roland Garros and the recent US Open.

With one left-hander (Bob) and one right-hander (Mike), you guys tend to set up so your forehands are both down the centre of the court. How does that work in your favour?

Mike: Most teams back in the day had the left hander in the ad [left side when receiving] and the right hander in the deuce court. They often chipped backhand returns cross court. We like to rip off forehands.

Bob: And then we poach with forehand volleys off the return. We feel it is better to poach with forehand volleys than with backhand volleys.

How do you stop opponents from pummeling the outsides?

Bob: Going down the line is a lower percentage shot. The net is higher and the court is shorter and there is less court to hit into. The Champagne in doubles is in the middle. That's where the action is.

Giant hypothetical: do you think you would have been an uber-player if the zygote hadn't split? A kind of tennis Voltron?

Bob: Ha ha. We can honestly say, no one has ever asked us that question before. But we really enjoy playing doubles together and it has worked out pretty well for us.

Federer is revered here in China (and everywhere else) and he proved himself a formidable doubles player winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Do you think tennis competitions should be restructured to allow singles players more opportunities to play doubles?

Mike: That has already been done three years ago and singles players can get into doubles based on their singles ranking.

Bob: Roger is the all-time great singles player and also a great doubles player. We have enjoyed our matches with him, and we have won four times and he has won three times.

Props. Have you met many other twins in sports?

Mike: Yes, we know the Collins twins from the NBA. They went to Stanford with us and they are great guys.

Bob: Like us, they are very close and best friends and they do everything together.

Mike: Unlike us, they are on different teams in pro basketball.

Your parents prevented you from competing against each other when you were younger, instead asking you to take turns defaulting to each other. In hindsight, do you think that was the right strategy?

Mike: Yes, we think that was wise and the best way to go. We are very competitive and we wanted to see our brother as a supporter and just a brother and not a competitor. There were enough other players out there in Southern California and across the nation to compete against. We are both glad our competition doesn't come from inside our own family.

Have you at least been competitive over girls in the past?

Bob: Nah, not really. Our only problem comes if one of us doesn't like the other one's girlfriend. It never works out if a girlfriend doesn't get along with the other twin.