Disappearing Doubles

As I make the rounds at Junior tournament events this summer, I am struck by something that I consider a tennis tragedy. Not only are tournaments struggling with declining draws (a trend across the country) but the doubles events are shrinking or being removed due to a lack of participation at an alarming rate. I have been to so many events in the past few months where doubles draws have been cancelled or are round robins with 3 or so teams. Part of my job is to work to fix this going forward (at least locally). Doubles is a crucial part of the game that needs to be celebrated and encouraged. Here are a few reasons why doubles needs to be pushed at every level:

1. It's a great way to get kids to increase their comfort level at the net. Let's face it, modern tennis for juniors revolves around who can hit 1 more shot from the baseline as hard as they can. Doubles is a great way to work on volleying ability and encourages variety as well.

2. It teaches skills that go beyond the "me first" orientation of junior tennis today. You have to be able to work together to succeed in doubles. Doubles play grows communication skills, strategy and teamwork beyond what players can develop solely on the singles court.

3. It makes the event itself more enjoyable. Doubles has the capacity to be more social than a singles match. We should be encouraging the social aspect of junior events, not putting kids into their own little bubbles where they play their singles match and go home. Let's give kids some reasons to hang out, socialize and interact in ways they otherwise might not.

4. Doubles makes players more attractive as recruits. If your player wants to move on to play after high school, they better have a good handle on doubles play. There are plenty of schools with players on their team that may never crack the singles lineup, but they are great at doubles and can give the team a chance to win that crucial college doubles point.

I don't have the answer yet for how to fix these issues. However, I am committed to working on it and to getting our local events on the upswing with participation. Hopefully by next summer, we will be talking about doubles dominating the scene again!

Now That's a Big Check.....

Well the U.S. Open is about to get a major upgrade in the coming years. It was just announced yesterday that the New York City Council approved a $500 million expansion of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. This move allows the USTA to replace portions of the facility that are significantly outdated as well as make improvements and additions. In exchange for approval, the USTA committed $10 million for improvements to Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The USTA will help establish a non-profit to fund the park and will also be offering kids tennis programming as part of the agreement in addition to an annual job fair for Queens residents. That community commitment is the big standout for me. So many times, corporate entities are viewed as raiders because they annex and expand without focusing on offering anything to the communities they are impacting. Not only does this agreement allow for the continued improvement of the USTA's signature event, but it will hopefully make an impact on the number of kids who have access to tennis opportunities. I understand a large portion of this is "keeping up with the Joneses" syndrome, where the USTA has to be pro-active in order to continue to make the U.S. Open attractive for TV and attendance revenue (which let's be honest, I'm all for since that is a major portion of how we are able to operate on a local level!) However, I do feel that the USTA has shown a significant commitment to engaging local communities and putting resources into the game (as they should). You don't even have to look very far from our own Idaho backyard to see that. Part of the Davis Cup coming to Boise included a grant from the USTA that will be used to rehabilitate and add family friendly tennis facilities at Ann Morrison park.

Tennis continues to grow here locally and will hopefully continue to grow on a national level. I just hope that when the time comes for the USTA to write that $500 million check, they have local kids from their tennis programs deliver it as one of those giant novelty checks!

Rules Were Meant to be Broken (by coaches of a certain age)

Brace yourselves tennis fans, what you are about hear will most likely be world shattering for your ears to take in. In a recent Spanish interview Toni Nadal, Rafa's coach and uncle, announced that "I talk to Rafa during matches. I know that it is not allowed but I think that at my age I have nothing to hide." NO WAY!!!! I am completely stunned to find out that the two of them have conversations and exchange comments during matches. They have always been SOOOOOOOO nonchalant and secretive during play...... In other related shockers, Novak Djokovic admits to questioning his teams gameplan during matches when he is losing. Oh no wait, EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS THESE THINGS! Maybe now that Toni has come out and said this, we can lose the elaborate methods some coaches use to circumvent the no coaching rule the ATP and Grand Slams use. I'm talking the complex hand signals that Bartoli's dad used at Wimbledon, that Toni has used before, etc. Now we all know their secrets! I know you aren't really stretching or doing yoga in the stands coaches!!

Maybe they should all take a lesson from the coach of the most recent Grand Slam champ:

    

What the Wimbledon?!

I don't even know what is happening in London right now. This has been the craziest Wimbledon that I can remember. Seeds have been dropping like flies left and right. I challenge anybody to show me that they picked Flipkens, Janowicz or Kubot in the semis and quarters before the tournament started. The tournament has been absolutely littered with upsets and injury withdrawals so far. Unlike so many people that want to blame the grass at the All England club, I think it is far more of result due to scheduling. As much as commentators like to throw out the term "grass court season," there is no such thing. A 2 week period with a couple tuneup tournaments in between the culmination of the clay season and the lone grass court major does not constitute a season. Grass is probably the most unique surface left on tour and I feel it should have more of a true season. The players have little time to adjust to the different movement grass court tennis requires. It was most evident in Nadal's match. He looked completely uncomfortable, which to me was a by product of the fact that he skipped all of the warm up tournaments.

Starting next year, the break between the French and Wimbledon will be 3 weeks but I'd like to see it expand a bit more. A little extra time could give some breathing room to players who go deep into the French while still giving them a chance to play a warm up event. I also feel like this could help minimize injury risk by increasing the time players have to get acclimatized to the surface. There are already distinct clay and hard court seasons, so let's put some more thought and attention into the grass portion of the schedule. Obviously it's tough to add tournaments to the already packed schedule but some things could be tweaked. For instance, why is there a clay court women's tournament in Europe AFTER the French? That's one more event that could be a grass court tuneup potentially. But before I continue to rant, I'll remember that I don't work for the ATP or WTA and I have my own tournament schedule to worry about. Here's to looking forward to a wacky weekend at Wimbledon! I'm calling it now: Flipkens and Kubot, 2013 Champs! ;)

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