Saturday, August 12, 2000
Doubles game dying
Tennis searches for change with singles taking over tour
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — The ATP Tour is in doubles trouble. The doubles game, which has become specialized almost to the point of being a separate tour, is withering on the vine.
It won't die quietly. Officials from the Tour's Player Council and Tournament Council have traded proposals all year and could vote on landmark changes as soon as next month.
“I want the powers that be to either do something, or stop talking about it and shut up and let us play,” doubles player/ESPN analyst Luke Jensen said. “Because every year it's, "Let's get rid of the doubles guys.' Give me the format and I'll adjust.”
Doubles has faded from the public eye. The disparity in prize money between singles and doubles grows. Tournament directors gripe about accommodating doubles players who don't boost ticket sales. Doubles players complain they're treated like second-class citizens.
Interest waned enough that there nearly wasn't a host for the year-end World Doubles Championship. Things could suffer even more next year when the game's most successful team, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, breaks up upon Woodforde's retirement.
The main problem is the proliferation of doubles-only specialists.
“Guys now think if they can't make it in singles, they'll be doubles specialists,” said Bruce Flory, Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati tournament director. “It's kind of like the (designated hitter). It was never intended to grow apart like this.”
All parties agree having top singles players play doubles would heighten fan interest.
“Being a tennis player, to me, has always meant playing singles and doubles,” Woodforde said.
The Tournament Council wants a switch to a system in which teams are accepted into doubles draws based on their combined singles Entry System rank. Changes would begin Jan.1, 2001, in Futures and satellite events — with a three-year adjustment on the ATP Tour.
“We're not going to give them exactly what they want,” said Jonas Bjorkman, the Player Council president. “We're going to find something in between.”
Doubles players fear singles players would have little incentive to perform in doubles and be tempted to give substandard efforts. They hope changes will be slower at the higher levels to be fair to those who earned a job playing doubles under the current system.
How did things get this way?
• The money has mushroomed. The total prize money here in singles is $1,847,400 — nearly 21/2 times what it was 10 years ago. The singles purse is 31/2 times the doubles purse.
• Tournament directors usually pick up the tab for every player in both draws, and those costs have risen as specialization increased. In this tournament in 1976, 61 of 67 players participated in both singles and doubles, compared to 25 of 103 this year.
• Scheduling has become a problem — the rankings system requires singles players to play more events — and there are more injuries. “It's gone from where guys played 12 or 15 events to where it's 23 or 26, plus Davis Cup and exhibitions,” said Jack Waite, a member of the Players Council. “For a lot of the top (singles) guys, the reward of playing doubles isn't worth the risk.” • Doubles players nowadays change partners frequently, making it hard for fans to build loyalties. Of the current top 10 in the ATP Champions Race, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras are the only two who don't play doubles events.
Several of the others, though, play them only sparingly.
With money and careers at stake, change will be tricky. What options exist?
• Starting doubles during the qualifying, so the event can be finished on a Thursday.
• Extending the entry deadline and starting doubles events Wednesdays or Thursdays, so first-round singles losers would still have time to enter doubles.
• Playing a tiebreaker in place of a third set, or reducing sets to a decisive five games.
Having top singles players play doubles won't produce champions immediately. Example: Gustavo Kuerten and Magnus Norman — Nos.1 and 2, respectively, in the singles rankings — played together last week in Toronto but lost to Andrew Florent and Joshua Eagle.
It also won't necessarily draw the biggest names.
“Nobody believes this is going to get Pete Sampras if he doesn't want to play doubles,” Tour CEO Mark Miles said. “But you want all the singles players who want to play doubles to be able to play.”
Back to Tennis Page
Tennis Stories
