Enlarge
#gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/8356
Stanford Daily File Photo

The Stanford men’s tennis team is in the process of establishing its final doubles pairings for the dual match play season. The doubles matches play a significant role in dual match scoring.

In a collegiate tennis match, there are a total of seven points up for grabs. Six singles matches take place, and the winner of each earns one point for his team. The last point is the doubles point, which is awarded to the team that wins two of the three doubles matches played. The doubles matches are played before the singles matches, and sometimes the point is the crucial and deciding point of the match. Many matches have been won and lost 4-3, and teams have often looked back to the doubles point as the point that made or broke them.

“Doubles plays an important role because the winner of the doubles point not only gains the first point of the match but also is able to start the singles matches with more confidence than the opponent,” sophomore Richard Wire said. “Winning four out of six singles to win the match is far harder than only having to win three.”

“You have to come out ready to go,” said head coach John Whitlinger. “I have brought [the importance of doubles] up in practice. It is hard to win if you get down early, but I have seen crazy things happen before.”

Additionally, in college a doubles match is only one eight-game pro-set — first to eight wins, must win by two — and not best-of-three sets like singles. This makes doubles a more intriguing challenge.

“Doubles is a lot different than singles,” freshman Alex Clayton said. “Things can change so quickly in doubles that you really have to be on top of every point.”

“[It] is all about energy and a quick start,” junior Blake Muller said. “Teams can feed off the energy [of doubles matches], compared to singles where you can pace yourself.”

Singles tennis is more widely known, and most of the top collegiate players compete in singles after their four years in school. But in college, the best players play both singles and doubles, which can be a huge advantage for a team in dual match play.

Last year, Stanford boasted one of the nation’s best doubles teams in the duo of juniors Matt Bruch and Muller. In addition to playing doubles, both also excelled in singles: Bruch captured consecutive Pac-10 singles championships in 2006 and 2007 and won the doubles title with Muller in 2007.

Bruch and Muller are just one of many outstanding tandems in Stanford tennis history. Stanford actually has more NCAA doubles titles in program history than singles titles. The Cardinal ranks third nationally with 14 NCAA doubles championships in program history, including Bob and Mike Bryan in 1998 and K.C. Corkery and Sam Warburg in 2004. Even Whitlinger has contributed to the success, winning an NCAA doubles title during his time at Stanford.

“There are three important things in doubles play: serve percentage, return of the serve and first volley at the net,” Whitlinger said. “A strong hitter and a consistent ball striker will play well together; but sometimes you have to wait awhile to find the right combinations.”

This year, the team is still in the process of finalizing doubles pairings. Tournaments, practice play and match play will all help in deciding the right pairings for the team. Muller and freshman Ted Kelly have been Stanford’s best duo thus far, capturing the ITA West Regional championship in November and earning a berth at ITA National Indoors.

It is difficult to say whether players prefer singles or doubles play. Whereas players like Clayton prefer to play singles, sophomore Paul Morrissey prefers the doubles game because of the fast pace of play.

“Doubles is shorter, and it’s all about getting ahead and getting momentum,” said Morrissey. “One or two games can change a whole match. I like doubles because it suits my game better, and I can take advantage of my serve.”

In any case, doubles is a big part of any dual match and cannot be overlooked. The average fan is often led to believe that doubles is just a supplement to singles play and that singles is the more important and high-profile match-up. Yet that couldn’t be more false.

As Morrissey said, “the doubles combinations that we have could make a huge difference in how the matches play out.”