In Rome, singles stars continue trend of building results in doubles

With the year’s second Grand Slam, the French Open, right around the corner, every bit of extra match play counts for the top singles players on the ATP and WTA tours.

And if it can come in doubles to break up the day-to-day routine of practice, many of them are finding that to be all the better.

As has been the case of late at ATP Masters 1000 and WTA Premier Mandatory events, the doubles draws in Rome were packed with pairings comprised of players more used to one-on-one competition.

Ryan Harrison and Fernando Verdasco, and Dominic Thiem and Steve Johnson were only two examples on the men’s side. Perhaps none stood out more, though, in either draw than Venus Williams and Madison Keys. For Williams, it was her first time taking the court in a WTA tournament with someone other than sister Serena in more than a decade.

While they were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury to Keys, the Americans did manage to post an impressive win against the sixth-seeded team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

With mixed clay-court results for Keys and Williams this year, it’s a result they can try to build upon as they head on to their next major tournament. A noteworthy doubles victory, or a string of them, can provide a much-needed dose of confidence.

Just ask John Isner.

Struggling through the first few months of the season, the American’s tough stretch in singles continued in Indian Wells. Teaming up with his countryman Jack Sock in doubles, the two proceeded to win the tournament without dropping a set, which included a win over Bob and Mike Bryan, arguably the greatest doubles team of all time, in the final.

Isner righted his 2018 singles campaign immediately afterward, winning the Miami Open for his first career Masters singles title.

South Beach was also the site of two WTA players who had breakout seasons in 2017 coming together in an effort to gain some momentum of their own.

CoCo Vandeweghe and Ashleigh Barty both had career seasons last year, but had been unable to replicate such success in 2018. They managed to find some in Miami as Barty—a five-time Grand Slam finalist in doubles—and Vandeweghe won the title with a straight-sets victory over Krejcikova and Siniakova in the championship match.

In Rome this week, Barty has made a deep doubles run with specialist Demi Schuurs. Sock and Isner appeared poised for a solid result after beating Madrid Open champions Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya in the first round. However, they lost their second match to Henri Kontinen and John Peers, one of the strongest teams on tour.

More often than not, it’s the duos that are playing together week-in and week-out who will come out on top against a pair less familiar with the nuances of the doubles game. Six of the final eight teams left in Rome on the men’s side have made Grand Slam finals, while the WTA players still alive have won dozens of titles between them.

But despite the odds, that isn’t likely to deter the singles players from their efforts to make an impact on doubles draw—and their results as a whole.

-Tennis Channel Plus features five courts of live action from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia beginning Sunday, May 13 at 5:00 am ET!