Why is it that great tennis singles champions rarely win trophies in doubles?

Question

It's no secret that many great singles tennis champions dont do too well when they play in the doubles.Even Federer.I was surprised to learn recently that he plays in the doubles and even in the current Indian Wells.Yet I never hear of him winning any trophies in the doubles competition.Same goes for Pete,Andre Agassi etc.Why is that so?

Answer 1

That's not true. On the women's side, great singles players have dominated doubles tennis. The Williams sisters are a terrific doubles team, both together and in mixed. Martina Hingis is a great doubles player. Martina Navritilova and Billy Jean King won numerous doubles titles. Navritilova is probably the greatest women's doubles player ever. Even Steffi Graf has a Wimbledon doubles title.

On the men's side, it used to be common for the men to play. John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors both won doubles grand slams titles. Stefan Edberg has 3 doubles titles.

I think today, the game has gotten too physical with power serving and grueling baseline games. With men playing 5 set matches in the summer heat, it's a lot to ask a player to then take on men's doubles and singles. That's why you see more doubles specialists like the Woodies and the Bryans.

Also, doubles is much more of a serve and volley game. That's why an older player with great reflexes like Navritilova can still play. Men's tennis is dominated by baseliners, who can't run all over the court in doubles and their speed is not as important with the lesser court coverage in doubles.

Maybe if men's tennis returned to more of a serve and volley game, you'd see more top players participating and winning. Women's tennis players still do well in both singles and doubles today.

Answer 2

Those champions focus heavily on singles because this is what they are aiming for, especially if their singles is really successful! And I'm not even including the energy factor of tennis. Give any of those "doubles specialists" consistent singles success, and I'm sure they would be focusing solely on their singles. But I'm sure that if say, Roger Federer or Justin Henin would play as much doubles, they could do very well.

Answer 3

Not true, many singles champions have also won doubles championships. The problem is that the further one goes deeper into the draw the more time one spends playing/practicing both, thereby not leaving much time for the body to recover.
McEnroe, Navratilova, Davenport, Hingis, the Williams sisters and numerous Tennis Hall of Famers. But now there are too many doubles specialist.

Answer 4

well, there's a simple answer to this question. singles offers almost twice the prize money of doubles. moreover, you then have to share half of the prize money with your partner, so you end up with one quarter of the prize money a singles player gets. Also the great champions go right to the end of most tournaments, so they will not have the energy to go the whole way if they play doubles as well. You often see the lesser tennis players playing doubles as well, because they don't make it as far in the tournaments.
moreover if you don't often play doubles, you won't be able to develop your doubles game.

Answer 5

Doubles is a totally different game. every aspect of the game has to be treated differently and most singles pros aren't comfortable with that change. It requires precise timing and teamwork and very often the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The biggest difference is serving. You can't serve the way you would in singles. You need to stand a little further out and you serve a little more conservatively than singles.

Answer 6

Some players have played singles their whole life and can not play doubles. Some also don't win because they will blame their partners for everything that goes on.

Answer 7

I have this same situation. They have the feel for singles and it carries over. I play Varsity singles, but my coach used me to fill in for the double one tourny and i sucked. The thing is that I was used to controling my side of the court so i wasnt as aggressive because I had to share, I was worrying more about my partner than I was about returning the ball. Doubles puts you in a whole other mind set and it is on the other side of the world when it is compared to singles. These famous singles players do not fair well in doubles because its just not their thing and it is total differnt than what they are used to. In baseball it would be the difference of hitting off a pitcher who is right handed and a reg. stance, compared to a lefty that throws submarine style. Its just totaly differnt

Answer 8

The simple answer is that they do not want to double up and play doubles because they will be to tired for their singles matches. You know where you sometimes see the better singles players play doubles id in the Davis Cup, but for the most part the seeded players do not play the doubles because of the fatigue factor.

Answer 9

well,most of them just focus on their singles career much more than their doubles one.of course,some are still able win doubles' titles as well as singles titles,e.g.:martina navratilova and martina hingis.federer did win some doubles titles,including miami masters 2003.sampras & agassi also won a total of 3 titles(not partnering together) with agassi winning the cincinnati masters 1993.boris won trophies for doubles too including olympic 1992.

Answer 10

Davenport used in win in doubles & singles ! Most don't because they are used to play solo. That's why u don't see double players good insolo. They are not any good on their own !