a lesson from ash - playing doubles does matter

Honestly, if you weren’t in shock on the morning of 23 March 2022(SGT), I don’t believe you. A minority of us thought that a forehand passing shot winner in an Australian Open final would be the way World No 1 Ash Barty would end her career on. However, the way her career has gone does reminds me of how current singles champions in the sport had to find their footings in the doubles game first, before propelling to singles success.

Barty partnered Casey Dellacqua in the first part of her career and made three of four Grand Slam finals in 2013, only missing out on the Roland Garros final. After her famous tennis break for cricket, she came back in 2016 and within a year, made the 2017 Roland Garros Women’s Doubles Final with Dellacqua. The breakthrough, though, came in 2018 when Barty partnered Coco Vandeweghe to win the US Open title. The following year would see her famous 2019 campaign, with titles in Miami and then Roland Garros to ascend to World No 1, and then capping the year off with the WTA Finals title. Her multi-faceted game saw her conquer on hard, clay and her beloved grass.

For the longest time, we have always neglected the doubles game in tennis. Whoever is crowned men’s or women’s singles champion is simply abbreviated to ‘Men’s’ or ‘Women’s Champion’. Doubles also does get significantly less attention and media coverage and hence prize money. Simple test, name the 2021 Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Champions without looking it up. I bet not many of you would have guessed who were they (I’ll leave the answer at the end of this piece). However, we have seen instances of players who have benefitted so much from doubles.

Let’s look at those with glimpses of brilliance first.

John Isner had a lacklustre start to his 2018 season. With early exits in Australia and the Indian Wells singles event, things weren’t looking good for the towering American. However, a turning point came in the doubles event where he would secure the doubles title with Davis Cup teammate and doubles powerhouse Jack Sock. That win proved to be a turning point as Isner would score massive wins over a red-hot Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinal. The final saw him battle from a set down to beat fourth seed Alexander Zverev, claiming his first Masters 1000 singles title.

Speaking of Jack Sock, how about that incredible way he closed out the 2017 season? Sock had notched a Grand Slam title in 2014 with Vasek Pospisil at Wimbledon and captured the Shanghai title in 2016 with Isner. After a successful 2017 singles campaign, Sock would see himself with an outside chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals at the Paris Masters. True enough, the stars had aligned, and with top seeds either pulling out or falling, he would eventually go on to clinch his first Masters title, propelling him to the eighth spot in London.

However, some players, just like Ash, have gone on to make waves after finding doubles success.

Most recently, it was Barbora Krejcikova who truly hinged on her doubles success to make a massive singles breakthrough. After reaching World No 1 in doubles in 2018 and achieving multiple Grand Slam titles with Katerina Siniakova, many saw Krejcikova as a doubles specialist, quick to brush her off in the singles debate. I for one saw more singles potential in Siniakova than Krejcikova going into 2021 to be very honest. However, three magical weeks in France would prove the tennis world wrong. After a strong showing earlier in the year to make her first WTA 1000 final in Dubai, she would go on to capture her first title at the WTA 250 in Strasbourg. Then, she made comeback after comeback, overcoming final set break deficits to win the Women’s Singles title at Roland Garros. She even returned the next day to sweep the Parisian clay titles with a doubles win with Krejcikova.

However, some may not see this as a surprise. Doubles players have the ability to throw singles players off. Doubles players won’t always be hitting heavy topspin shots from the baseline. They have the ability to vary spin and pace. One lethal slice could open up possibilities for doubles’ specialists. They have the ability to close in on the net and start manoeuvring opponents from the deuce court to ad court with simple volleys. 

Not just that, but doubles also helps with court familiarity. Now I know it may sound trivial, but hear me out. Various courts play very differently. Usually, centre courts have huge stands surrounding the court, hence some players may be overwhelmed with not just the big crowd, but also the conditions such as humidity, or lack of wind. However, the outside courts are subject to much more factors such as heat, wind, and at times maybe lacklustre conditions. I personally feel that playing doubles does allow players to be able to experience a much larger variety of courts and force them to adapt. Hence players like Krejcikova would be okay playing on Court 12 or Court Phillippe Chatrier at Stade Roland Garros due to the experience she has garnered over the years.

And this phenomenon has not been left unnoticed. The ITF Junior Rankings now place importance on doubles too in a bid to encourage doubles play on the junior stage. The current ITF Junior Ranking Formula counts a player’s six best singles results plus 25% of their six best doubles results. This ensures that junior players are well-rounded as they will also have to play doubles to maintain their ranking. As a result, the current wave of singles players could sometimes find success on the doubles court too. Singles players like the famous Special Ks, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, and Coco Gauff have emerged in recent years as doubles champions or deep runners.

So as much as you may not remember the triumph of Elise Mertens and Hsieh Su-wei in the 2021 Wimbledon final, don’t be too shocked if they were to cause an upset on a stadium court against a young top player who hasn’t made as many trips to centre court yet.