Blogcast: The Year of Doubles

This year's inductees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame highlight the importance of the doubles game to the sport.

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Turning Doubles Talent into Singles Strength

For years women have seemed to understand that playing doubles can, in fact, improve your singles game. Martina Navratilova, Lindsey Davenport and Kim Clijsters are just a few of the ladies who've been ranked #1 in both disciplines. It might make sense that a talented singles player could easily translate his or her ability onto the doubles court. But these days, pairs specialists are finding their stride all on their own.


Take Sam Stosur, ranked #1 for sixty-one weeks in 2006-07 -- she reached a career high #11 singles ranking in February. Though she's won two Major doubles titles and finished runner-up a handful of times, she just took home her maiden singles trophy last year. Despite some disappointing results to start the year -- she lost in the first round of her hometown Slam, the Australian Open -- this week at the BNP Paribas Open she's been in top form. Through her first three matches she hasn't dropped a set, last beating defending champion Vera Zvonareva in less than ninety minutes.

In the quarterfinals she'll meet Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, currently half of the #3 doubles team on Tour. She's only ranked thirty-third in singles, but she's been mighty impressive in Indian Wells, taking out world #6 Victoria Azarenka and #15 Yanina Wickmayer, both in straight sets. She's probably still a long-shot for the title, but it's certainly been a good week for her solo game.

In the meantime the men are beginning to take their cue from the ladies. While the only gentleman to my knowledge to hold the top spot in both singles and doubles was John McEnroe, we're starting to see a few more of the sport's elite try out the wider court.

The pair of John Isner and Sam Querrey, who played the singles and doubles finals on the same day in Memphis last month, have also made the semis in California. They'll face their first seeded team of the tournament next, but regardless of the result their performance already surpasses what either did in the singles bracket. Even Rafael Nadal, who held a doubles ranking of #26 way back before you knew who he was, has teamed up with Marc Lopez as a wildcard entry in the desert. They opened with a victory over third seeds and perennial powerhouses Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy.

Sure there's the argument that spending so much time on court can tire out the men's singles players who already face longer yearly schedules than the women and have to withstand best-of-five set matches at the Majors. But there is clearly something -- net work, quick reflexes, discipline -- learned on a doubles court that serves a purpose to players on their own, and there are plenty of guys out there who can use the benefits.

And, if nothing else, it sure is fun for us all to watch!

Doubles, Doubles, Toil & Trouble

Halloween is fast approaching, and the ghouls and goblins are haunting the eerily quiet doubles' courts as paired players make their own bid to play for the year-end championships next week.

Both the women's Bell Challenge in Quebec and the men's BNP Masters in Paris feature some of the best talent in doubles -- even if they are overshadowed by their solo counterparts.

I've long been of the opinion that doubles tennis never gets the attention it deserves. To some extent it makes sense that the top players would eschew the doubles bracket in an effort to avoid potential injury and focus on their singles game. It's rare to see the matches broadcast, even during the major tournaments, unless it's the championship or there's a rain delay. Even at the high school level, doubles is relegated to the back courts while the "star" singles athletes get top billing.

But watching a real high-quality match can often be more dramatic and entertaining than anything two solo players can pull off on the court.

This year at the U.S. Open, I was able to watch Virginia Ruano Pascual and her partner Anabel Medina Garrigues take on Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. The Spaniards, seeded fifth at the tournament, were given a run for their money by the hometown -- or home-country -- favorites, losing the first set and being forced into a third set tiebreak before pulling out the win. But with hard-hitting volleys, multiple heart-pounding gets and reaction times that would rival the most skilled marksmen, there was no doubt that these ladies were working for their buck.

And while the very top singles players seldom make any real effort in doubles, usually happily languishing in the triple-digits for rankings, the opposite isn't always true. Katarina Srebotnik is currently ranked #3 in doubles and #21 in singles while Ai Sugiayama is #4 and #31 respectively. Jonas Bjorkman, currently part of the fifth best doubles team in the world, was once ranked as high as #4 on his own.

At the top of the women's game right now are Zimbabwe's Cara Black and the U.S.'s Liezel Huber. Together they've won a jaw-dropping nine title matches since January, including the U.S. Open -- Cara also took the mixed doubles championship in Flushing Meadows, beating her partner Liezel in straight sets. Incidentally, the #1 women's singles player, Jelena Jankovic, has won a relatively paltry four tournaments in 2008.



On the men's side all eyes are on the Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob, the twins who regained their #1 ranking after winning the U.S. Open in September. Bob pulled out of the Davis Cup semifinal match against Spain with a shoulder injury, but the two are back in top form in Paris this week, looking to capture their sixth title of the year.



Despite the dominance of both pairs in their respective fields, there is unfortunately a huge discrepancy in the rewards of both games. Jelena, for her four titles and no majors, has taken home $2.7 million this year just in prize money; Cara Black, including her take from the U.S. Open, has made only $730K. The Bryans together have earned a combined $1.5 million, less than a fourth of what Rafael Nadal has won. Sponsorships and endorsements, of course, add even more to the purse of singles players.

Every now and then you begin to hear rumblings that singles players should be required to enter the doubles draws at major tournaments. To an extent that happens at the Olympics, where Roger Federer won gold with Stanislas Wawrinka, and at Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches -- Mardy Fish stepped in for Bob Bryan against Spain, and actually won. And you occassionally see a pairing like Nadal and Argentina's Juan Monaco, who've already notched a first round win this week in Paris.



But what about the rest of the year?

Purely for the entertainment value I think there's a great argument for it -- imagine watching heavy hitters like Federer and Andy Roddick pounding down Nadal and James Blake. But even from a strategic standpoint I feel there is a benefit, forcing players who are traditionally content to wear down the baseline to develop a real serve-and-volley game and ultimately improve their overall play. Yes, the potential for injury or exhaustion is a concern, but isn't that just time they'd be spending on the court anyway?

And maybe a few recognizable names in the doubles draw is all the sport needs to get people interested.

So drive the ghosts off the courts, grab a couple of friends and get out there and play!

'Til then, I'm off to find myself a Halloween costume!

Happy Haunting!