Weeks 26 & 27: Wimbledon (grass) - doubles

indiana · Tennis legend

RE: Weeks 26 & 27: Wimbledon (grass) - doubles

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

A bit of a turn-up for the books in the final: the dark horses (unseeded, goes without saying), Vasek Pospisil & Jack bloody Sock, nick the title off the Bryans by 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-4 3-6 7-5. cry

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Only saw the final set but what a thriller - and what unbridled joy and enthusiasm from the 'new' kids.

I love the nickname too - the Pop Sox !!!

RJA · Hall of fame

Delighted with that result.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Great match.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Best doubles match ever witness in GB

Of the highest quality

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Brilliant match.

But what does it say about doubles that the Popsock guys who had never ever played together until their first match last week, go on and win a Grand Slam ?

I mean, great story, but I thought there was all this : you've got to be an established team to know each other and how to play together etc. etc. etc.

I just loved their energy and enthusiasm and shot-making - even they looked surprised half the time !

And I loved the Bryans' begrudging praise:

Of their opponents, Bob Bryan said: The honeymoon period is sometimes tough to stop. We faced it many times, guys playing together the first time are really excited. They have great runs, everything is fresh and new.

Those are two good players, they are great athletes and have great futures on the singles court.

smile

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Sunday 6th of July 2014 07:10:43 AM

RJA · Hall of fame

Coup Droit wrote:
Brilliant match.

But what does it say about doubles that the Popsock guys who had never ever played together until their first match last week, go on and win a Grand Slam ?

I mean, great story, but I thought there was all this : you've got to be an established team to know each other and how to play together etc. etc. etc.

It only tells us what we already knew. Broadly speaking the top doubles guys are only at the top because the top singles guys either don't take doubles seriously or don't play at all. The Bryans are probably an exception to that in that they would have had a decent career anyway but no way would the likes of Peya / Soares or Kubot / Lindstedt be among the best doubles teams if all singles players took doubles seriously.

-- Edited by RJA on Sunday 6th of July 2014 10:45:09 AM

Spectator · All-time great

Hmm. Djokovic is not a particularly great doubles player, I'd say. Nadal, Federer and Murray are good doubles players, but certainly don't always carry all before them when they play.

Looking more broadly, there were 43 top-100 singles players entered in the doubles event. In the QFs, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th seeded teams were all playing - three of which are dedicated doubles pairings. You then had a SF which involved one dedicated doubles pairing, and two pairs which were 1/2 dedicated doubles and 1/2 top 100 singles. And Pospisil and Sock. So while the top-100 singles players were overrepresented relative to their entry, they hadn't swept the field.

I actually think that Jack Sock, in particular, may well fit into the "great doubles player" category. He's had far more interesting doubles victories than singles, and in the final, he and Pospisil looked far more like doubles players than they did like singles players playing doubles - that's what made it such a terrific match.

My own interpretation would be this: some people are just great players all around. Some are great singles players, but not great doubles players. And some are terrific doubles players and may not be as good singles players. If you get two great doubles players or one great doubles player with a top singles players who can play doubles, anything can happen ... even with a new team. If you added more of the "great players all around" into the mix, you'd probably shift the dynamics some, but perhaps not as much as one tends to think. After all, at Indian Wells where everyone and his brother played, the final was still Bryan/Bryan v Peya/Soares.

indiana · Tennis legend

I think the real point is that if the top singles players ( who I would consider generally simply the best "tennis" players ) took time to concentrate rather more on doubles, and ( in spite of Pospisil and Sock's rookie success ) more particularly in reasonably established partnerships, they would generally be very successful at doubles.

My interpretation is that most of what have become the top doubles players would never be top singles players ( most, probably nearly all, would originally have wanted to be ) and that most of the top singles players could be top / very good doubles players.

This is simply my belief ( and clearly many others' belief ). It is not meant as any sort of attack on doubles ( or doubles players ), which I have often really enjoyed watching. The skills of the top singles players are sufficiently transferable that it is to me just fairly logical that this would be the case. As I said, they are generally simply the best "tennis" players.

Re Djokovic, I have not watched or followed his results in doubles, but I do remember him teaming up with Andy a few years ago ( in Miami I think ? ) and from what I saw there, he was excellent and at that time more impressive than Andy.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Made me smile:

Neil Harman @NeilHarmanTimes · Jul 6

One of the quotes of @Wimbledon by @VasekPospisil after doubles final. Tactics? "Close your eyes and hope you play the game of your life."