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by Pete Bodo
This is no April Fool's joke, held up for 27 days in your spam filter. If you check today's scores from the Internazionali D'Italia you'll see that Roger Federer won his match, 10-8 in the third. He was helped in that effort by doubles teammate Yves Allegro. They beat a pretty solid doubles team, too, in Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley.
This was an especially good win when you consider Allegro's track record. I don't want to trash the poor guy; like most of us, he's working hard and unlike some of us he's working hard at something he loves. But when you say his name you don't even think, "journeyman." You think, "FOS." Friend of Superstar. He's one in that fairly long line of players whose friendship with a top player has paid off with unexpected benefits on the tennis court. More power to him. And maybe it was a good thing for Federer to get back on the court in Rome as soon as possible after that herky-jerky performance against Ernests Gulbis in singles. Never underestimate the balm of a W, even when it's in doubles.
The result is also interesting in a representative way, especially when you look at it in light of the Federer vs. Nadal rivalry. It has not gone unnoticed that Rafa won the doubles at Indian Wells with his own personal Yves Allegro, Marc Lopez. They won that title 10-6 in the super-tiebreaker the ATP now uses instead of a third set. I presume the truncated format is also being used in Rome, slightly diminishing the dramatic flavor of that 10-8 performance by Federer and Allegro. It's too bad Nadal is passing on doubles this week; I sure miss those Federer vs. Nadal finals.
I'm not sure how much doubles those rivals plan to play this year, but any is better than none. And their participation reminds us of a fact that tends to undermine the credibility of the doubles results and rankings. The skills of a top singles players travel well; almost every great Grand Slam singles champ is a regular hellraiser on the doubles court - if and when he chooses to play. But let's remember that the doubles specialist is by no means a recently evolved subspecies; he/she has been around forever. This just happens to be a boom time for guys who are capable of going two, three rounds in doubles, week-in, week-out.
However, a great doubles team, like the Bryan Brothers, can pose questions that more modestly gifted specialists, or a pick-up team consisting of a superstar and FOS is often hard put to answer. For that reason, it will be interesting to see how Federer and Allegro handle their next match, against either of two notable teams: John Isner and Sam Querrey, or Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi (that foursome meets tomorrow).
Federer and Allegro are already in the third round. And they made their doubles money the old-fashioned way - they earned it. The team didn't have the free pass (a first-round bye) awarded to Aspelin and Hanley, as well as Bhupathi and Mirnyi. And when was the last time Roger Federer played in a tournament awarding byes and didn't get one? You show 'em, Roger!
As an American journalist, I have a vested interest in Isner and Querrey, both as singles players and as a doubles team. Granted, they presently aren't in the same league as Bhupathi and Mirnyi, but that could change. Isner told me the other day in Tampa that he and Querrey are committed to playing a full doubles schedule this year, with the stated goal of making the ATP Tour year-end championships in London as one of the eight elite doubles squads. I like that decision; it sends the signal: We're young, we want matches, we'll take them any way we can git 'em!
Neither of these kids has adopted all the habits and prejudices of a singles guy ranked 20 or so places above him- something that's always a temptation to a young buck all puffed up with an inflated opinion of his own talents. Some developing make the mistake of embracing the approach of an elite pro, as if imitating someone puts you on the fast track to becoming that someone. It's a slightly more grown up version of going out and buying the Kobe Bryant sneakers, or Johnny Damon signature baseball mitt. Taking cues from a great player is a good idea in many ways, most of them having to do with due diligence when it comes to practice, fitness and nutrition. But when the urge to Roger diminishes your on-court time, you're flirting with disaster.
One of the nicer developments in recent years is the greater disposition shown by top players to playing doubles. It wasn't all that long ago that John McEnroe was playing 100 matches a year in singles and a good 50 or 60 in doubles; in 1983 (okay, so it was that long ago), he played 18 singles tournaments and 16 doubles events (I'm including Davis Cup in both). And Mac more or less played a comparable schedule through most of his years at the top. Some will argue that it was a different, less demanding game back then, but I don't really buy that, at least not as the main reason that McEnroe was able to compete the way he did on two fronts. The main reason Mac was able to play so much singles and doubles is because. . . he wanted to.
And that's the best reason of all.
Neither Isner nor Querrey has compiled an early singles or doubles record to compare with John McEnroe's, but playing doubles can help both those youngsters in much the same way McEnroe said it helped him. It eliminated what might be called "irrelevant" practice time (Patrick McEnroe tells some funny stories about John's contempt for standard practice and drilling in his forthcoming book, Hardcourt Confidential). The young Americans can't afford to be cavalier about practice in the same way as certified genius John P. McEnroe, but there's a lot to be said for match-play (as opposed to practice and drilling). The other day I wrote about the degree to which Isner believes his excellent competitive temperament was shaped by the sheer volume of college matches he played, and there's a parallel to be drawn there.
Now here's the really intriguing thing. Isner and Querrey have the potential to be a superb doubles team - something the U.S. already has in Bob and Mike Bryan. As the Bryans make their final push to shatter the all-time doubles mark currently held by Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, wouldn't it be ironic if Isner and Querrey proved to be a major stumbling block to their ambition?
Note to self: pay a little more attention to doubles in the coming months.
Note to Roger and Rafa: Get with the program and join up as a doubles team.