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Pro Tennis Player
Quote Archives
( Photo credit: Art Seitz ©2009 )
Michael Chang
October - December, 2005
December 26, 2005:
"If we start implementing a tiebreaker, instead of a third set, in mixed doubles, eventually it's going to go to men's doubles and women's doubles and, in the long term, singles as well. And then tennis is no longer a true test of skill, and nothing like we've known it. We have a successful scoring system, and we're changing that. What they're doing to mixed doubles now is the beginning of the downfall of the whole game."
— All-time doubles great Todd Woodbridge, presciently predicting in 2001 when the Australian Open implemented a tiebreaker in lieu of the deciding set in mixed doubles, that the ATP would eventually make the same rule change in men's doubles, which the ATP is doing—along with adopting No.Ad scoring—starting in 2006.
December 1, 2005:
"We agree that doubles players should not have
been forced to file a lawsuit. Instead, the game's leaders,
including the ATP, USTA, ITF and the Grand Slams, should
have stood tall alongside the tramlines of center courts
everywhere to assure the traditional fabric of doubles
would not be unravelled."
— Eugene L. Scott, publisher
of Tennis Week, in his Oct. 29, 2005 "Vantage
Point" column that denounced the ATP's misbegotten
"campaign to marginalize and, many think, eventually
eliminate the bona fide doubles teams."
November 15, 2005:
"What the ATP is doing to doubles is a disgrace.
The ATP is trying to take away one of the greatest games
in the world — doubles."
— Rennae Stubbs, winner
of 52 career doubles titles, including Wimbledon,
the U.S. Open and the Australian Open, plus two Grand
Slam mixed doubles titles.
November 1, 2005:
"I loved playing singles and doubles at the junior,
college, and pro levels. The doubles game needs some
help, but the suggestions [reforms] made by the ATP
were not the right ones, and the process that the ATP
took was certainly not appropriate. The ATP, ITF, WTA
and Tournaments should put more effort into promoting
the doubles game. The players could help by playing
with local players and holding clinics for the men,
women, and kids in the cities in which they are competing.
Wiith everyone working together, the skill and excitement
of the game of doubles will be supported and appreciated
even more by the fans."
— Stan Smith, all time
great.
October 12, 2005:
"In our history, Wilson has always supported the artful
game of Doubles that most tennis fans play. We believe
that a good doubles match can be one of the fastest
and most exciting of all sports events and therefore
support the Bryan brothers, Jonas Bjorkman, Max Mirnyi,
Daniel Nestor, Michael Llodra, and all our athletes
in their efforts to preserve Doubles."
"WE LOVE DOUBLES" statement
supporting pro doubles players who have powerfully
protested the ATP's foolish and destructive doubles
reforms, on www.wilson.com, the website of Wilson
sporting goods company.
October 1, 2005:
"There is no hidden factor, no bones about what the
ATP is trying to do. They are trying to get rid of the
doubles guys. The only reason they're going to keep
the top four doubles teams is because the Bryans [Bob
and Mike] are in the top four. If they weren't in the
top four, they'd scrap doubles altogether."
— Leander Paes, the highly
respected, former world No. 1 doubles player and 14-year
tour veteran, denouncing the ATP's wrongheaded and
destructive doubles reforms in Inside Tennis
magazine.
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