Top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan captured their second title of the year and their Kroger St. Jude title at the Racquet Club of Memphis with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over unseeded South African duo Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard.

The Bryan brothers, who were appearing in their fifth straight final on the ATP circuit (Tennis Masters Cup Doubles in Houston, Adelaide, Sydney, Australian Open), also were appearing in their fourth consecutive final in Memphis. The Americans, who have a 16-2 record so far in 2004, captured their first career title together in Memphis in 2001 and reached the final again in 2002 and '03, losing last year to Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. They extended their Memphis record to 15-4 after the win.

"Memphis was kind of our starting block," said Mike. "When we came here in 2001, we were 65 in the world and that was our first title. At the end of the year we finished in the Top 15 so it's been up ever since."

Bob added: "We're just building confidence now that we're the No. 1 team. Last year we were No. 1 for a little while but now we really feel like the No. 1 team and feel like we're the team to beat. If we play well, we're not just trying to hold it, we're still going for our shots and we're not afraid to lose. That's our philosophy."

The title represented the 16th of Bob's career, while brother Mike captured his 17th. "We're on a roll right now, said Mike. "We have tons of confidence. We did well at the Masters Cup, took a good break, refreshed and started working hard and the roll started in the first week of the year, winning in Adelaide. It's all coming together for us. Probably the confidence from being No. 1 last year. We're on top and we want it to stay that way."

Coetzee and Haggard were attempting to win their first title together since Adelaide in 2003, just prior to Coetzee's tragic car accident in South Africa on January 31. Coetzee was traveling with his sister Amelia De La Cruz and her two sons Daniel (12) and J.P. (5) in the Northern Cape on his way home to Okiep when the back tyre of his Fiat burst, sending the car into a concrete barrier, killing his five-year-old nephew J.P.

After undergoing surgery and spending a month in hospital, Coetzee's physical rehabilitation was complete when he made his doubles comeback at the US Open (l. first round) and then reached the final in Bucharest with Simon Aspelin. Coetzee was attempting to capture his fourth career title, Haggard his fifth.