ATP Slashes Doubles But No Injury Solutions Entering 2006

Posted on November 22, 2005

By Richard Vach, Tennis-X.com Senior Writer

While the top men's players in professional tennis complain about being forced to play too many tournaments, the ATP responded this past weekend by changing the doubles scoring for 2006 to no-ad (a "sudden death" point at 40-all) games and a 10-point tiebreak in place of a third set.

Why these "enhancements," as the ATP calls them, to the game? Naturally, to get the top players to play more doubles on top of their singles schedules -- the last thing they want to do.

That's showing some real solid leadership, a real feel for the needs of the players and the game.

As pro tennis circles the drain, with almost half of the Top 16 men and women missing the year-end championships with injury in 2005, you have to wonder just what the hell is going on in the boardrooms of the ATP and WTA governing bodies, and how some of these high-paid execs are justifying their overblown salaries. Tennis marketing departments? How is that going lately?

Communications? Seems it's an effort just for the tours to update their websites on many days with their scaled-down staffing.

Thriving U.S. sports like NASCAR have slews of communications staff working from their headquarters to cover both coasts, with all the info you'll ever need to know about Ricky Rudd, the latest chewing tobacco and how it does take a great "athlete" to continually take left turns. Meanwhile the men's and women's tennis tours have just a few PR/communications managers working out of their offices, and they're expected to somehow promote tennis not only in the U.S., but internationally while traveling from tournament to tournament, chasing down players kowtowing to the media on-site at tournaments. And we all know how effective that has been, with tennis' popularity fast closing on badminton and curling in North America.

Reminiscing on the Masters Cup doubles semifinals over the weekend, I tried to remember what I won't be seeing from the great game of doubles in 2006: Leander Paes struggling with six deuces to eventually hold his serve, the Bryan brothers' power game failing against the artistry of Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llodra. And the men's final going to a thrilling third set to see who would blink (or choke) first (not to give it away if you're behind in the news, but it was Paes and Serb powerhouse partner Nenad Zimonjic, both giving up their nerve and serve as the match went on).

For you see in 2006, doubles matches will become a coin flip. Paes wouldn't struggle with six deuces, since the first deuce would be a no-ad point where one big serve ends the game. The Bryan brothers, who rely on brute force to barrel through opponents, maybe wouldn't lose to Llodra-Santoro, where instead a couple big serves on no-ad points could have turned the tide. And needless to say, the men's final wouldn't have naturally progressed to a third set, but would have been cut short by a 10-point "super tiebreak."

"We want to make it more exciting," said new ATP chairman Etienne de Villiers, ignoring the fact that the ATP can't get broadcasters to show doubles on TV, and a sport that isn't on TV pretty much doesn't exist to the general public. "We want to get people to watch this wonderful game of doubles."

Will the top players, riddled with injury and looking to win the most titles with the least court time, suddenly open themselves to more injury opportunities by playing doubles? From which they have little to nothing to gain? They certainly aren't looking for the extra money.

You do the math. Or I'll do it for you: n + o = no.

Stars like Andy Roddick have already said they won't play. What's the incentive, a chance to partake in wacky scoring in front of a confused crowd?

Originally shrouded as a doubles "enhancement," it was the tournament directors who pushed the doubles scoring through, hoping to also drastically change the rankings entry system and weed out the no-name doubles players who they have to feed and put up in stellar hotels for the week. Some of these tournament directors, such as Charlie Pasarell, Cliff Buchholz, Adriano Pannatta, Paul Flory, Colin Stubs, Donald Dell, Bob Kramer, etc., have a deep history in the game. Whether they voted for the changes of not, they've got to be uneasy about this gutting of the doubles game on their watch.

"We have to get together and make a collective decision and we have to make it soon," said Indian doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi. "The ATP is a body for the players and we thought they had our best interests at heart."

What's next on the tours' improvement agenda -- perhaps more "Now we're really going to market the players!" lip service while cutting communications and public relations staff, as they've slowly done over the last five year?

If you're looking for signs of leadership, or a lack thereof, look at the last 12 months, the biggest year of injury for top players since the Open Era began in 1968. The culprits are many, from the out-of-control racquet technology to no uniform ball weights/makes at tournaments to players chasing the under-the-table cash for exhibition play, the list goes on.

Andy Roddick hurt himself at the Masters Series-Paris, said he would rest up and was hopeful for his participation in the Masters Cup, and naturally went back to the states to -- play an exhibition! Doh!

Where is the announcement that either the ATP or WTA are looking into the injury plague? Don't hold your breath.

Much of the problem, as already illustrated, is stupidity-inflicted. Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters missed much of the tail end of the season with injury, the American sisters to the point of not qualifying for the year-end WTA Championships, but all three are participating in heavy exhibition schedules during this the "off season." None have completely healed from their various injuries.

While the majority of the star power sits on the sidelines, tennis fans are treated to Amelie Mauresmo and David Nalbandian winning the year-end championships, and the Slovak Republic and Croatia squaring off in the Davis Cup final. Good for Amelie and David, etc., but that's not going to pull in the fringe tennis fan folks. A healthy Roger, Andre, Lleyton, Marat, Rafael, Serena, Venus, Justine, etc. sell the game. And when the top names are on the sidelines, the product suffers, as the Chinese found out.

Shanghai organizers put up a ton of cash for this year's Masters Cup, just to watch five of the original eight qualifiers pull with injuries. Some made more of an effort than others, but Agassi summed it up best, with players falling left and right due to the "ballistic" movement required to keep up with the missiles launched from the racquets of every player. No more moonballs in the 21st century for professional tennis, now it's the first player to hit the "C" button on the Sega controller wins the point.

Do you, Joe or Jane Tennis Fan, have any ideas for improving tennis, other than trying to get the top players to play more doubles? Ideas along that line the ATP would like? Maybe creating even more exhibitions? More Hopman Cups and World Team Cup-type events? Or burying even more big events in Asia, or maybe encouraging doubles players to do NFL-style endzone dances after hitting aces, then holding up a sign that says "Show this on SportsCenter!" Or letting tour players use those new computer-chip enhanced racquets so they can actually behead opponents who try and come to the net?

As the ATP has shown by making doubles a circus sideshow in an attempt to get the top players to play even more tennis, no idea is too stupid.

Richard Vach is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com.