John Isner: Doubles Ace?
You may have missed it over the weekend, but Greensboro's own John Isner won his first ATP title on Sunday.
Before you wonder how you did miss that, let me add that he won it in doubles, teaming with Mardy Fish to capture the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.
Not bad considering Isner and Fish had only played together once before, at last year's Newport tournament.
Isner is now ranked No. 105 in the world in doubles. Pretty impressive considering he's piled up his 583 ranking points in just 15 tournaments.
Last year Isner won two doubles titles in challenger tournaments. Isner and Sam Querrey reached the third round of the French Open earlier this year. Isner also won a national title in doubles his sophomore year.
So clearly, Isner has a ton of potential in doubles. Not to pat myself on the back (okay, I'm giving myself a brief pat between typing letters) but as Isner was finishing up his career at Georgia, I was asked by someone about his pro prospects.
"I'm not sure how he'll do in singles, but I think he could win a grand slam in doubles."
Of course, a few months later, Isner reached the finals of the Legg Mason tournament in D.C. and we all forgot about the doubles thing.
Now, though, I'm starting to wonder again about Isner's doubles future.
I think it's as bright as he wants it to be, but there are three factors which will probably keep it in check right now.
1) Singles. It's really, really hard to play top-flight doubles and singles at the same time on the tour. The last guy to really pull it off was John McEnroe. Consider that the No. 1 doubles player in the world, Canada's Daniel Nestor, doesn't even have a singles ranking. Neither do the Bryan brothers. The highest-ranked doubles player who even has a singles ranking at all is No. 18 Jonas Bjorkman, who's No. 183 in singles.
2) Lack of a steady partner. It's really, really important in doubles to be in sync with your partner. To know what shots he likes to hit, where he likes to hit them, etc. When all four players are at the net firing rapid volleys at each other, you can't afford to clang rackets with your partner when you go for the same shot. That sort of chemistry is forged through numberous tournaments together. In eight doubles tournaments in 2008, Isner has played with six different partners.
3) Money. In 2008, while compiling a 6-13 record on the ATP Tour, Isner has won over $134,000. His 7-6 record in doubles has earned him just over $35,000. You can make good money in doubles - just ask the Bryan brothers - but you have to be totally dedicated to it, to the exclusion of singles.
There's no need for Isner to do that. If you look at the playing history of most of the top doubles players, you'll notice they did play singles, 7-8-9 years ago. Clearly, they all gave the more lucrative side of tennis a shot before deciding to become doubles experts.
Isner's only 23, so that sort of decision - if he ever even needs to make - is still several years off. For now, his main focus will be to keep a spot in the top 100. He came into the Indianapolis tournament having slipped to No. 96 in the world. His one win there will give him 15 ranking points, which could boost him back in the 80s.
But looming ahead are a lot of points to defend. He earned 55 points last July when he won a challenger in Lexington, Ky. Then he followed that up with a whopping 140 points in D.C., almost a quarter of his current ranking points. If Isner doesn't come up with a few more wins in the next month, he'll almost certainly be back in triple digits in the rankings. That could make things interesting in terms of getting a spot in the main draw for the U.S. Open. If need be, I can't imagine the USTA wouldn't throw a wildcard Isner's way.
Regardless, I'm sure someone would also love to partner with Isner in doubles in New York. Provided he's interested, of course.