Future of Doubles

Darndest thing happened to me this summer. I went to Plaster-Your-Name-Here stadium to watch my local baseball team. Before and after the game, a group of players competed in a variation of baseball. There were twice as many men on the field, and the dimensions of the diamond were altered a bit. Some of the required skills were a little obscure and there were few twists on the traditional rules.

But the crazy thing was, this sideshow, full of no-name players who had eye-opening skills, was faster and more closely contested than the game I came here to watch, which turned out to be a yawner that was over by the third inning.

Wait, it gets better: these entertaining 18-on-18 games were included with the price of admission. The league's broadcast partners are permitted to televise the action at no extra charge, which can come in handy when the main event is a blowout. And the franchise owners now have that many more players to market, that many more replica jerseys to sell. Everyone wins, right?

I'm kidding, of course. But here's what I don't get: Tennis tournaments actually do offer a similar supplemental competition, doubles. But instead of being perceived as a bonanza, doubles is treated like a zit on prom night, an unfortunate outgrowth best kept from the public. Doubles players are banished to the hinterlands at tournaments, left to do their poaching and crossing on Court 52. Doubles results seldom make it into the newspapers, much less onto television. Many promoters continue to push for reduced doubles draws and prize money. "Ultimately you play(tennis) for yourself and your partner, not to be popular. But you wish the respect were higher," says Mark Knowles, a veteran who is to doubles what Yo-Yo Ma is to cello.

Barely a generation ago, the biggest stars in the tennis cosmos entered the doubles draws - they could hardly afford not to. Players on the order of John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova took nearly as much pride in their ability to perform with a co-pilot as in thier ability to fly solo. Two-on-two matches aired on television and even doubles specialists such as Peter Fleming were accorded quasi-celebrity status.

Not so today. When Knowles and Daniel Nestor won the title at the Pacific Life Open, for instance, they worked their magic before pastures of empty seats. Whiles the singles final between Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt was broadcast internationally, the doubles result was the smallest of footnotes. Despite incentives to get the ATP singles studs to play, men's doubles is largely a subculture unto itself. Most of the top stars, wary of risking injury or reluctant to spend too much time at the office, decline to couple off. And whereas five or so years ago all of the top women were entered into partnership, only two Top 10 singles players - Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik - currently hold a Top 10 doubles ranking as well.

The diminished status of doubles is perplexing. For one, It's the hacker's sport of choice. There are three times as many doubles players as singles players in USTA leagues. Plus, doubles is the answer to a lot of the standard tennis critiques. The hidebound types left mourning the decline of the serve-and-volley game? Almost all doubles players head netward every chance they get, and a strong, staccato volley is an occupational requirement. Turned off by two players mindlessly bludgeoning the ball from the baseline? The average doubles point is stuffed with viperous angles, deftly placed lobs, and clever tactics. Reluctant to sit through a five-hour marathon? At most tournaments, doubles matches end in a third-set, winner-take-all super tiebreaker.

Promoters, administrators and television execs defend their singles-heavy emphasis by asserting that fans want to see stars. They've tried to make doubles attractive to top singles players, without much luck. So here's an idea: How about making stars of doubles players? Promote Virgina Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez, who inexplicably, play in anonymity despite winning half the Grand Slams they enter. Showcase the doppelganging doubles gang, twins Bob and Mike Bryan. Put Todd Woodbridge, who entered 2005 with 16 career Grand Slam doubles titles, on a marquee court.

Graydon asked me to bring this article to everyones attention as I'm sure you have all read the changes that the ATP are going to be introducing in the fall to the doubles game.. Which in the long run could force our doubles guys out of a job effectively. Hopefully in the coming weeks we can get a petition up and running and just get this to as many peoples attention as possible. It's not right - Promote the game don't kill it.