On New Year’s Day, out on Court 10, Jamie Murray and his doubles partner John Peers were playing Nicolas Jarry and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the latter of whom had, the day earlier, blasted into the public’s consciousness by eliminating Kyrgios from the singles tournament.
A good crowd had gathered around Court 10, the furthest court from the towering Pat Rafter Arena.
The roars of the crowd from Pat Rafter Arena echoed across the floodlit courts.
This felt a long way from that orbit. A long way from the bright lights and big crowds.
This is where doubles is often relegated.
Jamie Murray (left) and his doubles partner John Peers are often relegated to the outer courts. (Getty Images: Zhe Ji)
It is that fact that makes Murray believe the very future of doubles is at risk.
“I would never say it’s a bad thing that the top singles guys come together and play,” Murray told ABC Sport inside the Queensland Tennis Centre.
“Ultimately, I think that the more that the top singles guys play and they’re committed to the tournament, the better.
“But the issue that they have on the tour is, well there’s a few things, but this schedule isn’t set up for these guys to play out through [the] duration of the doubles tournament.”
A quick glance at the schedule on the penultimate day of the Brisbane International exposed this issue.
On Saturday afternoon, Jiří Lehečka played Grigor Dimitrov at 3pm, the match coming to a premature end at about 4:30pm when Dimitrov retired in the second set.
Jiří Lehečka backed up reaching the men’s singles final by reaching the doubles final later that night. (AP Photo: Pat Hoelscher)
Lehečka was set to play in the doubles semifinal later that same night with Jakub Menšík, getting on court at about 11pm.
Opposite them were Nicolas Jarry and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Mpetshi Perricard, incidentally, played for a spot in that same singles final at about 8:30pm that night against Reilly Opelka.
The semifinal of the doubles match was set to take place on Court 1 after “suitable rest”.
Why Court 1?
Because Mirra Andreeva, who was in action in the WTA semifinal against world number one Aryna Sabalenka from 6:30pm, was set to play her WTA doubles final on Pat Rafter Arena alongside Diana Shnaider against Priscilla Hon and Amma Kalinskaya after the Mpetshi Perricard/Opelka clash.
Mirra Andreeva played two matches on the same evening on the penultimate day of the Brisbane International. (AP Photo: Pat Hoelscher)
Andreeva lost the singles semi but won the doubles final.
“The scheduling, it’s never easy,” Lehečka said after his singles semifinal.
“Of course, if you try to schedule the whole day, you have plenty of matches going on, then it’s just a mess sometimes. It’s not easy to put everything in order.”
It would be understandable, perhaps, for both Lehečka and Mpetshi Perricard to consider their spot in the doubles competition, given their progress in the singles.
Murray said it was understandable, based on both fatigue levels and the disparity between the money on offer for each competition.
“I think they [singles players] play until it becomes an inconvenience, basically,” Murray, who specialises in doubles on tour, said.
“The prize money gap is so big now, how do you motivate these guys to play a match for $10,000, $20,000 when the next day they [are] playing singles for $200,000?
“It’s understandable that they’re not always going to give, let’s say, best effort, or they pull out when the schedule gets too much or whatever. I totally get that.”
The trophies are comparable, but the financial rewards are not. (Getty Images: Bradley Kanaris)
That prize money gap might surprise people.
Equally, it might not.
In the WTA Brisbane International event, the prize money for getting into the final in the singles competition stands at $120,735.
The final of the doubles? $48,590.
The ATP tournament is a similar step down, with the singles finalists earning $56,580, the doubles $18,510.
Lehečka admitted that one of the primary reasons he played doubles was to get used to the court — something Murray said happened a lot.
But doubles has a distinct skill set all of its own, which some players struggle to adapt to.
“It’s a different skill set and it takes, for those guys who don’t play that much, time to get used to it, the speed of the game and different shots that you have to play,” Murray said.
Novak Djokovic found the doubles frustating at times. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde)
“Novak is one of the best, probably the best returner ever in tennis.
“But in doubles it doesn’t always pay off because, if he’s used to hitting returns through the middle of the court, in doubles that’s getting snapped up a lot of times because guys are crowded in the middle and your margin for error is much less. You’re aiming into much smaller targets compared to the singles.”
That said, playing doubles remains popular among players, with Davis Cup ties still occasionally boiling down to the doubles rubber, even in its current, diluted form.
Pulling out of the doubles once it had served its purpose though, was not an option for Lehečka.
Jiří Lehečka said he would remain loyal to the tournament, even though he reached both finals. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde)
“I’m the type of guy that when I sign for doubles, I want to play until the end,” Lehečka said.
“That’s why I don’t play doubles that often, because when I’m not sure or I’m not convinced that I would finish the game, I’d rather not play than pull out [at the] end of the second round.
“That’s why I think I decided to play doubles in this tournament here in Brisbane, because it’s the beginning of the year.
“Doubles, it’s fun to play. Of course, my focus is on singles.
“With the scheduling, it is how it is.”
It is how it is, but it’s something that Murray believes can change.
Murray said he would start doubles tournaments on a Sunday, and have the whole thing wrapped up by Friday.
“I think the tour can do a better job of making it easier for them to commit to the full length of the doubles tournament,” Murray said.
“It’s a can of worms, but what’s the goal? If you think that growing the doubles game is getting the top singles guys out as often as possible, then I believe you need to front-load the doubles at the start of the week, because you won’t get their commitment if you do it late in the week.
Doubles matches do not always attract big crowds. (Getty Images: Paul Kane)
“Start [a doubles tournament] on Sunday, have a final on Friday. That would be my thing, if it is like, ‘Let’s encourage the singles guys to play as much as possible.’
“But I also understand that the schedule’s a f***ing disaster now for everyone, really, with all these extended events, so many more days on the road.”
As the tournament director of Queens, the pre-Wimbledon grass court tournament, Murray may have some discretion to arrange tournaments as he sees fit, although he would need full ATP and WTA buy-in to implement changes.
“I just feel like there’s a lot of little kinks and stuff that could be ironed out that don’t necessarily cost money and would just make it be a better product to take to market,” he said.
“If it’s your business, you’re not going to try to sell that business if it’s half cooked. You want to know that it’s the best possible product that it can be.
“And OK, if people don’t consume it then, OK, fair enough.
“But just now it just feels like it’s not on its best footing. That’s what annoys me the most.
“I’m not saying it’s the most amazing sport in the world or anything like that, but it’s fun.
“It is fun and loads of people across the year say to me how much they enjoy it, or they enjoy it more than singles because it’s faster and we like all the reaction stuff and it’s what we play at our club with our friends.
“It does have a lot of fans, which I think that the Tour probably underestimates.”
