So its not particularly helpful for big serves then?

James has definately picked his partner well for this tournament !! Arthurs' serve is so good for doubles, with all the spin he gets on it. It's ideal for setting up the player at the net. He's been as high as no 11 in doubles and has won 12 ATP doubles titles, including Indian Wells.

Low bouncing courts will aid Arthurs' serve with all the slice he puts on it. The courts will probably make for lots of tiebreaks as they're going to make things tricky for the players returning, as passing shots and lobs are trickier than usual when the balls are keeping low.

Some info on the opponents: Goldstein is ranked 49 in doubles, at age 30 he's now a veteran. He won the Sacramento challenger a couple of weeks ago in singles and doubles. Jim Thomas is his regular partner, they've reached finals in San Jose, Indianapolis and Tokyo [beating the Murray brothers in straight sets]. They also reached the US Open quarters.

The match will start at around 4pm this afternoon.

I wonder why James didn't play singles qualies here, he would have made the cut for that

Yeah, that's James' aim for the end of the season. To do so he needs 129 points so he could do with making the latter stages here.

I'm just puzzled as to why he didn't play singles qualies aswell as he's not far off securing entry into AO qualifying.

4-4 now, perfect time to break!

Now into a tiebreak

3-2

4-2