The sweat had barely dried from the brows of the Camarillo's Mike and Bob Bryan after their French Open title when the question began swirling around ATP tour circles again.

With that elusive Grand Slam victory under their belt, will the twin brothers finally get the chance to fulfill their Davis Cup dreams?

The man with all the power -- Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe -- thinks it is highly probable.

"Without saying it is a 100 percent done deal, I think it is pretty close to that," said McEnroe on Friday. "At the moment, I feel good about them representing the United States in the Davis Cup. It would have to take something drastic happening in next few months for me not to pick them."

The Davis Cup selections for the match against the Slovak Republic on Sept. 19 are generally announced after the U.S. Open is completed on Sept. 7.

McEnroe has been impressed with the Bryans' consistent improvement over the last six months, and said the French title was just icing on the cake.

"They are better players and a better team now," said McEnroe. "I was impressed enough by then (the French final). My hopes was to tell them that and to take some pressure off. I didn't want them to think if they lost that they were not going to make the Davis Cup team."

In recent Davis Cup matches, McEnroe has opted to take better singles players instead of a steady doubles team, partly as insurance if an injury was to arise.

"Quite honestly I am not so sure that in the past they were that much better than me putting together a couple of singles players," said McEnroe "It wasn't a slam dunk that they were necessarily a lock to win the match as opposed to (James) Blake and (Todd) Martin or Blake and anybody else."

The Bryans have taken exception to some of the comments McEnroe has made in justifying their past exclusion from the team, but McEnroe feels that comes with the territory of his captaincy.

"It has been tough for them because one of their big goals is to play Davis Cup, and I have challenged them in certain ways, and done that publicly," said McEnroe. "I sort of see that as part of my job. Not just with them, but all the guys.

"I have a difficult job and the only thing I can be with all these guys is honest. I hope guys are pissed off with me because that means they want to play."

Past Davis Cup players and captains have expressed hope that the Bryans have done enough to earn their chance for Davis Cup success.

"I would like to think Patrick would give them a shot since they won a Grand Slam. I think they have earned it by the way they have played the last year," said Tom Gullikson, the U.S. Davis Cup captain from 1994 to 1999.

"The doubles point is so up in the air all the time. If you look back on all the great Davis Cup teams, the United States has dominated that point. We have a history of having really great doubles team It is a key point especially if the match is tied 1-1."

Davis Cup icon Stan Smith, who was a fixture on the team from 1968 to 1981 and compiled a 35-8 record in singles and doubles play, believes the Bryans could provide the stability that has been lacking in the doubles point for the United States.

"They are playing well and continue to improve. Certainly, in my opinion, they are the best American team. By far, they have the most experience of playing together," said Smith. "Obviously some pick-up teams have done pretty well, but our Davis Cup fortunes have not been too good as far as doubles concerned the last five to nine years partly because of not having an established team together consistently."

The Bryans, who are in England preparing for Wimbledon, are taking a cautious approach to the Davis Cup talk, fearful of getting their hopes up too high, only to have them coming crashing down like in the past.

"Davis Cup isn't a real big goal coming up. It's pretty far down the road," said Bob. "We have Wimbledon and the U.S. Open coming up, which are our biggest goals right now. We're not really thinking about Davis Cup. We're thinking about being No. 1 in the world and winning Wimbledon."