I thought I'd post this interesting article by Lisa Raymond on the key to doubles success. For anyone interested she has a column/ page on si.com every so often and writes very well. A career in media after she packs away the raquets me thinks.
March 2007-
Two of a kind: Drama in doubles play can be as tense as a marriage Doubles anyone? The Sony Ericsson Open is in its second and final week in Key Biscayne, Fla., and the doubles draw is packed with top teams and big names. With doubles on the mind and given the name of this column, let's cut to the chase and talk doubles.
There are a few questions I am repeatedly asked when speaking about doubles, including, "How do you find a doubles partner?" or, "What makes a successful partnership in doubles?" These are great questions on any level, amateur or professional.
First and foremost let us get one thing straight -- doubles is a relationship! It's a business partnership that must also consist of chemistry. You want to gel and come together as one, all while trying to master the art of communication. Sound familiar?
The ability to laugh and have fun with your partner makes the partnership that much more effective. If you are out there in the trenches, battling together for a win, you don't want to look to your partner with contempt. Don't laugh -- this happens more often than you think!
A doubles partnership is like marriage, and just like the ebbs and flows of any relationship, it's packed with drama. Writers for Days of Our Lives would be green with envy given some of storylines behind these partnerships! You have the serial, non-committal singles. Breakups are prevalent and divorce is rampant.
Some divorces are due to irreconcilable differences, others to affairs when one partner is caught lying and cheating with a future suitor, while some just "fall out of love" with the union. Another common motive for a divide is thinking that greener pastures exist elsewhere.
Just as in a relationship, teams may seek therapy or advice when going through tough times. Partners often talk to their respective coaches -- who themselves often have to double as therapists -- about their concerns, while others may talk to fellow players.
Some of the most successful partnerships stand the test of time while others don't. A success story would be the team of Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Paola Suarez, one of the greatest doubles partnerships of all time. They have had their share of injuries in the past few years but have stuck it out together, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. You know the saying!
On the flip side of that would be a team I know very well, Raymond and Stubbs. Rennae and I had an incredible run together in the late 1990s into the early '00s compiling numerous titles, Grand Slams and reaching the No. 1 ranking in the world. Along the way we had many highs and lows, and after a "trial separation," we played together again in '05.
We quickly learned that sometimes it truly is better to let old dogs lie. The reunion didn't go so well. But on a happier note, we have a great friendship now and have moved on and found different partners.
While not often the case, some teams reconcile after a divorce such as Cara Black-Liezel Huber, while others move onto the next suitor, such as Kveta Peschke-Stubbs. Sometimes in doubles, it's not always "love at first sight."
Take my partnership with Sam Stosur, for example. We couldn't buy a win in our first three events as a team. After almost "breaking up," we decided to sit down and talk. Communicate! Within a week of that "session," the partnership clicked. The wins started coming and we haven't looked back since.
Doubles partnerships seem to fall into various categories. There are the singles players who hook up to play doubles together more for match practice than for winning titles. Match play is used to work on serving, returning and volleys while being in a competitive environment that's not as stressful as singles. Examples of this joint venture are the pairings of Svetlana Kuznetsova-Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis-Daniela Hantuchova.
Having said that, the Swiss Miss is without a doubt one of the greatest doubles players ever. Yes, that's doubles, I said. I have always thought that she never got enough credit for the doubles player she was and is today. Four Aussie Open titles with four different partners -- need I say more? The one time I was supposed to play with Martina, she had to pull out due to an injury. How's that for bad timing?
Another category would be the doubles-only combo. The partnerships of Black-Huber and Peschke-Stubbs are examples of teams who play doubles and only doubles. Doubles in the morning, doubles in the evening, doubles all the time.
Then there are teams that are made up of players who play singles and doubles, the iron men (or women in this case) of our tour. Ai Sugiyama, Elena Likhovtseva, as well as my partner, Stosur, are examples of this group. Each week their names can be found in both draws, progressing deep in each.
Last and certainly not least, there are the doubles-only players. Players who have recently (three weeks in my case) have stopped playing singles and now team up with "singles players" to play doubles. This faction is home to players such as Corina Morariu and me. I am starting to get used to my new residence, a place where you fine-tune your doubles skills with hitting partners or fellow co-ops of this dwelling.
So how do you find the perfect doubles partner? My advice is to look someone you like as a person. Someone you feel you have chemistry with, whose game compliments your own and with whom you wouldn't mind having a coffee. You never know, it could be a match made in tennis heaven!
[
Double Take]