'07 was year for the ages for Capitals coach

Wayne Bryan had a better year than Chevron in 2007.

Not financially, of course, although he's hardly suffering. Bryan has hundreds of engagements a year as tennis' unofficial roving ambassador in addition to his gig as the coach of the Capitals in World TeamTennis every July.

Professionally and personally, last year was the ultimate for Bryan. Not only did he guide the Capitals to the WTT championship for the second time in six seasons, his twin sons helped the United States end its longest Davis Cup title drought in history (12 years).

Furthermore:

• The Capitals pulled off three dramatic comebacks in three nights in midseason and barely reached the playoffs in Roseville.

• Bob and Mike Bryan won the clinching doubles match in the United States' 4-1 victory over Granite Bay resident Dmitry Tursunov and Russia in the Davis Cup final in Portland, Ore.

"I'll never forget 2007," Wayne Bryan, 61, said Friday during a three-day visit to Sacramento to conduct clinics, give interviews and speak at the Roseville 2008 economic summit. "Both of my dreams came true. Tennis is at its best when it's a team game. It's so much better when you can share it with others."

It will be much more difficult for the three Bryans to win the WTT and Davis Cup titles this year.

Capitals star Mark Knowles decided to skip the WTT season because his wife is expecting their second child in July.

Knowles was named the WTT Male MVP for the third time last season, and he's the world's highest-ranked doubles player not named Bryan.

Sacramento drafted 41st-ranked Eric Butorac, a 6-foot-3 left-hander, to replace Knowles.

The United States, meanwhile, will be the underdog when it plays Rafael Nadal and Spain on clay in Madrid in the Davis Cup semifinals in September.

If the Americans survive, they will face another uphill battle on clay at Argentina or Russia in the November final.

The home team chooses the surface in the Davis Cup, and slow clay is the worst for hard-serving Andy Roddick and the United States.

The Davis Cup, first awarded in 1900, is the world's oldest sports trophy. It's also the largest annual international team competition in world sports, with 127 nations entered this year.

Bob and Mike, who turned 30 on April 29, had dreamed of playing in the Davis Cup since they attended their first match in the competition when they were 10.

Wayne took his sons to see the United States play Mexico in La Costa, three hours down the freeway from their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Camarillo, and the boys were thrilled to chat with U.S. doubles star Rick Leach.

Nineteen years later, Bob and Mike were playing for the Davis Cup title.

Wayne attended the two opening-day singles matches. However, he had planned to miss the doubles match on the second day because he was scheduled to speak in Chicago. He rarely watches his sons' matches in person because he gets very nervous.

When Roddick and James Blake won in singles to give the United States a 2-0 lead, putting Bob and Mike in position to clinch the title in the best-of-five-match series, Wayne changed his mind and stayed.

Bob and Mike beat Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets, setting off a wild celebration at the Coliseum.

"I'm bawling like a 10-year-old girl," Wayne recalled.

The United States and Russia split two meaningless, shortened singles matches on the last day, a Sunday.

"When you win a tournament, by Tuesday you're usually back to square one," Bryan said. "But the Davis Cup smile lasted until March."

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