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!

Not Everyone Is a Comedian

To some people the jokes come easily. Timing, as they say, is everything -- and apparently at the Hit for Haiti exhibition in Indian Wells, the timing was all off.

When tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi took the court on Friday night with current superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, playful banter quickly devolved into personal jabs between the long-time rivals. Pete mocked his opponent's mannerisms and Agassi referenced a passage in his autobiography which depicted Sampras as a stingy tipper, an impersonation that seemed to genuinely irritate Pete. The former #1 has since apologized for his behavior, conceding that his "whole book is about living and learning, and I guess you never frickin' stop."

Now I know I've defended Andre's revelations in the past but this, though innocuous compared to others, still seems out of line -- especially at a charity event. It appeared from the start of the night that Agassi was trying not just to entertain, but to ruffle Pete's feathers. Sampras, once thought to be good friends with Andre, has said previously that he was disappointed in the comments Agassi had made in Open and was having none of it in the desert.

If not inappropriate, the goings on Friday were certainly awkward. And while Federer and Nadal tried to stay out of it like gentlemen, Agassi actually made himself look like kind of a jerk. Sure he was always the bad boy of tennis, but there was still something lovable about him. I'm less enamored now -- a feeling, ironically, I didn't have after his book was published. And I can't help but feel that, if he hates the sport so much, then why is he still on the court causing such trouble?

Of course I'll try to keep an open mind and reserve judgement on a man who has done a lot of good for the sport. But, come on -- when are these guys going to remember to play nice?!

And in case you haven't seen it yet, take a look for yourself. For what it's worth, my favorite moment comes 2:57 into the clip when Pete serves square into Andre's body and both Rafa and Roger double over in unison -- either in hysterics or in shame, who can tell?

Things Are Heating Up

There were signs of spring in the New York air this week, but a little further west the action is getting really hot.

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells is the first Masters event of the year and, more importantly, marks the return of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. After injury-induced absences they'll both be back in action in tonight's Hit for Haiti charity exhibition before getting ready for their main draws. And they've chosen quite the stage on which to make their debuts. Eight of the top ten men pepper the field and some are coming off big wins in the last few weeks. And that could be a bit intimidating for someone a little out of practice.

Rafa is the defending champion here, but he seems like a whole other person than he did in 2009. Last year's trophy came in the middle of a five-title run, but the now-#3 hasn't won another tournament since that streak ended. He tumbled out of the Australian Open quaterfinals after re-aggravating his knee and hasn't yet been back on court. Though he still hits hard as always, when I watch him now I often find myself wincing in anticipation of pain.

Roger, on the other hand, should be a a bit fitter, though a lung infection late in the winter caused him to pull out of Dubai. But he's got some hot players in his section -- Marcos Baghdatis, Gael Monfils and Janko Tipsarevic have all put together a string of wins in the time since Melbourne and any could face Roger before the semis.

The women's draw is no less formidable. Though missing Serena & Venus Williams as well as Dinara Safina, past champions like Vera Zvonareva, Maria Sharapova and a still-unseeded Justine Henin pose real threats. A different woman has won Indian Wells in each of the past six years, though, so the tournament is really wide open. While there is, again, the possibility of a Henin-Kim Clijsters final, this time I won't hold my breath. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Victoria Azarenka or even Alona Bondarenko advance far into the bracket.

Of course, you don't have to win to make a statement at Indian Wells. With such an impressive field, this tournament is a great opportunity for players like James Blake or Anna Chakvetadze -- both in action today -- to turn their spate of bad luck around. And newbies like sixteen-year-old Sloane Stephens and Ryan Harrison, just a year her senior, can both put their names on the map if they can follow up on the upsets they scored in their first rounds.

And with more than a week of play left, it certainly looks like just about anything can happen!

Under Construction

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Just a quick note to let you know about some of the new features I'm adding to Tennis Spin. Check out the tabs above where you'll find useful information about what's happening on Tour.



Check back in the next few days -- I'll be adding links to some of my favorite tennis sites and blogs and, when action in Indian Wells starts heating up, I'll highlight some featured matches of the day. I hope to bring you more content over the next few months. And if you have any suggestions of what you'd like to see, well let me know!

I can't wait to make Tennis Spin a more fun and informative destination for everyone!

A Double Header

With the baseball preseason just getting underway it seems appropriate that the Monterrey Open held this week culminated in a two-for-one situation. When the second semifinal was postponed on Saturday, third seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was forced to start her day early, and after getting past Anastasija Sevastova in the morning, she found herself contesting her first Tour final just a few hours later.

The eighteen-year-old may be new to the sport's elite, but Pavlyuchenkova has amassed quite a resume over the last few months. She made her first semi last year at Indian Wells and capped off 2009 with back-to-back wins over Venus Williams in Tokyo and Beijing. In Monterrey this week, she hadn't dropped a set until this morning, spending barely three hours on court in her first three rounds.

For her efforts she met Daniela Hantuchova for the title. The more experienced Slovak has been mounting a comeback story of her own, of late -- having dropped out of the top forty last year, she hasn't won a championship since Indian Wells in 2007. But she's been on the rebound and made the finals in Mexico on the heels of two decisive come-from-behind victories over American Vania King and compatriot Dominika Cibulkova.

The match started off looking as though Pavlyuchenkova was spent -- in a quick first set she was broken twice and won less than thirty percent of her second serves. But the one-time top-ranked junior player was relentless -- after losing the first set 1-6, she came back to mirror that score in the second and tied it up with a 6-1 set of her own where she won every one of her first serves. The third set was another quick one, and the Russian only allowed Daniela two points in her service games. She held her opponent at love and in less than two hours, Anastasia had won her first title.



Apparently the three sets she played early on Sunday were just a warm-up -- after a small hiccup in the evening Pavlyuchenkova seldom looked back in her first championship match. And at eighteen she's already showing signs that she could be one to watch in the coming years. She certainly knows how to perform against the top players, and with just a little more time, something tells me she'll become a force at the Majors as well.

And I look forward to watching her succeed!

Take the Lead

With two days of Davis Cup play in the books, the results so far aren't entirely unexpected. France, Croatia and the Czech Republic have won all their rubbers, giving them passes to the quarterfinals in July. Other countries still have a bit of a mountain to climb -- and the U.S., it seems, could see its reign of the longest uninterrupted run in the World Group* come to an end if it loses either of its next two matches to Serbia.

Of those ties left to be decided, most interesting could be the dual between Switzerland and Spain, ironically a match-up that has dominated the tennis world for most of the last five years. Though neither team's best player entered Davis Cup, there was plenty of talent on the courts. Nicolas Almagro and Stanislas Wawrinka took their first match to five long sets -- just short of four hours -- before the Swiss took the early lead. But David Ferrer, winner last week in Acapulco, made quick work of Marco Chiudinelli and Tommy Robredo teamed with Marcel Granollers to take the doubles match. One more win and the two-time defending champions will be in the second round.

Russia's dominance of India early on in their tie shouldn't be that surprising. But Igor Kunitsyn did struggle through his first two sets before beating world #128 Somdev Devvarman in four. The Russians took an easy two-rubber lead and looked to be on a roll until running into the legendary doubles team of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. It was good to see the two together again -- they haven't been regular season doubles partners for year, though they both remain at the top of their game and have captured more than a few Major titles separately. Of course it's unlikely that the underdogs will be able to stage a comeback against such a strong team, but it's nice to know they won't get blanked.

There's an interesting battle brewing in Sweden, where one of the hottest players on Tour last year, Robin Soderling, is trying to lead his country against the Argentines. With their star Juan Martin Del Potro still recovering from injury and former top-five player David Nalbandian still on the mend, it didn't look good for the 2008 runners-up, and Soderling won his first match to give the hometown team the early lead. But somewhat surprisingly Leonardo Mayer was able to rebound from a one-set deficit to tie up the singles score and Nalbandian paired with twenty-four year old Horacio Zeballos to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

The most nerve-racking result so far, as I alluded to, is the hole the U.S. team finds themselves in. It's not wholly unexpected as top player Andy Roddick and veteran James Blake bowed out of play -- but with current, though uninitiated, stars like John Isner and Sam Querrey leading the pack, I'd have liked to see some more spark. Though both singles players were able to take one set apiece from Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic respectively, they weren't able to do much else. John did team with Bob Bryan to win their doubles match, so hope is not lost -- and the team has clearly put together a string of upsets over the last year, so they certainly shouldn't be counted out quite yet. Sadly, though, I won't hold my breath.

In the last tie of the first round, Chile finds itself up two matches against a nascent Israeli team. They have yet to play their doubles match, but so far Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez look to be in top form. I expect they'll be into the next round pretty easily.

We all know that in sports like tennis, there's no such thing as an insurmountable lead -- I'd especially love to see the U.S. and India pull off the rally and make the quarterfinals. But the play of their opponents over the last few days has proven to be top-quality and could make for a lot of fun Davis Cup matches this year. And if we see a new champion come December, at least we'll know they deserved it!

* The U.S. has played in the elite group every year since 1989, but a first round loss this year would force them to compete in the play-offs for the 2011 draw.

Not Bad for Two Weeks' Work

It's been a pleasant couple days for Venus Williams.

She began her post-Australian run by defending titles in both Dubai and Acapulco and then returning to New York in an attempt to improve her runner-up showing at last year's Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup.

This was the second year Madison Square Garden hosted the exhibition, featuring four of the best female athletes in the sport -- seven-time Major winner Williams, reigning French Open champ and world #3 Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year's comeback queen Kim Clijsters, and '08 Roland Garros titlist Ana Ivanovic, a replacement for the younger Williams who withdrew with a leg injury.



This was the second tournament I've had the chance to watch at the Garden, and I can honestly say that this city really does bring the best out of these players -- I was immediately amazed by the quality of tennis last night.

Ivanovic, who hasn't been a major force in the sport for quite some time, kicked the night off against Clijsters by breaking the former #1 in her first service game. She even held match point before being forced to a tiebreak, and though she struggled on serve, she certainly showed more than glimpses of the champion she once was. Even still Kim ran away quickly with the decider -- after a much more competitive set than I would have thought -- gaining the first entry to the final.

The next match-up featured Kuznetsova and Williams, a pair who'd split their last eight meetings. Here again the ladies traded breaks to start, but for the next several games both Svets and Venus displayed the kind of tennis that champions are made of -- phenomenal rallies, awesome court coverage and bullet-fast shots that sent the crowd to their feet more than a few times. Ultimately, with a double fault by the Russian that didn't do the set justice, Venus advanced to set up her twelfth career match against Kim.

The final was played in a traditional, best-of-three format and, if I hadn't known better, I'd never have guessed this was "just" an exhibition. Venus got off to a quick start, breaking early in the first and never looking back. She seemed to get in a little trouble with the net, though, and some brilliant shot-making from Kim evened things up in the second.

It looked like momentum had shifted to the Belgian, but the New York fans got behind their girl. With Clijsters leading 4-2, Williams pulled even and had a chance to break for the tournament. Finally after three hard-fought sets, Venus captured the Billie Jean King Cup, her third trophy in as many weeks.



From start to finish it was a tournament that lived up to the hype -- the crowd, the players, everyone got into the matches and was rooting boisterously for their favorite. And other than seeing Venus eventually take the title, there was a lot to be proud of -- I was impressed by Ivanovic's ability to stick it to her opponent again, I was heartened by the quality of points and that no return was allowed to go unpunished. And I was thrilled to see championship tennis back in Manhattan.

In the meantime, Venus goes home with another trophy, silencing critics -- including myself -- who'd thought she may have passed her prime. But now securely back in the top five, she's a legitimate threat at any tournament, which bodes well going into the spring season.

And if last night's matches are any indication, any one of these ladies could give her another challenge as well!