: Doubles Dilemma

Should doubles be made prominent and if so how? Doubles’ troubles are really twofold... doubles matches are almost always scheduled after singles and most top players choose not to play doubles. The two challenges are intimately linked. The main reason top players choose not to play is because they don't want to hurt their chances in the singles draw by playing a long doubles match until midnight. In addition, although many players would agree that doubles is good practice, many pros worry about fatigue and therefore prefer to practice specifically for their next singles match. The recent changes announced earlier this year for ATP Tour doubles events are promising by making the matches more exciting, i.e. no-ad scoring, match tiebreak at one set all. In addition, allowing all rankings to count towards entry might entice some singles players to play more doubles, but not that many. There are many talented doubles specialists who can play some very exciting matches, but the reality is that most fans are drawn to name players. So what to do? During Grand Slams such as the U.S. Open, maybe two sets and a super-tiebreaker until the finals when it’s three out of five sets. In addition, maybe schedule all doubles matches on one secondary stadium court during the second week. During regular tournaments, schedule more doubles matches as the opening match. Bottom line is that singles will always get much more attention, most top players will rarely play doubles, but with better scheduling and marketing, doubles could still attract more fans to what are often very exciting fast-paced matches.

Posted by TC at 10:38 AM || Comments (0)

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August 15, 2006

Doubles Dilemma

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