Winning anonymously

Doubles champ Johnson has a fascinating story

WIMBLEDON, England -- One of the reigning champs traipsed through the grounds this rainy Wednesday afternoon, unbothered by the crowds. He was neither in disguise nor camouflaged by security. He was just men's doubles player Don Johnson , who partnered with Jared Palmer to win the 2001 title.

If men's tennis is going through some tough times on the publicity front -- how many casual sports fans would be able to i.d. Lleyton Hewitt from a lineup of two? -- the situation is doubly tough for doubles. The guys who cover half a court are used to the odd schedules, to playing matches in the hinterlands, to essentially living in a universe alternate to the one Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi inhabit. But now they're really feeling the heat. Tired of disbursing more than 25 percent of their expenses on players they claim don't put a single fan in the seats, promoters want to cut doubles draws and doubles prize money by as much as 50 percent and end the culture of doubles specialists who have no pretension of entering a singles draw.

The ATP has tried conciliatory measures, but success has been marginal. Replacing the third set with the experimental "match tiebreak" was a way to shorten matches (thus, hopefully, luring more singles stars to juice up the doubles field) and ensure promoters some scheduling certainty. The players, however, hated it and, sources say, voted it down at a meeting this week. Enabling a player to enter doubles draws based on either his doubles or singles ranking was hailed as another way to induce the stars. Problem is, at a Masters Series tournament with a 64-man singles draw and a 32-team doubles draw, those doing double duty face the prospect of playing 11 matches in six days. Not likely. The tour also hired a p.r. employee tasked specifically with promoting doubles players. He is, as they say in polite circles, "no longer with the company."

Though a player of Johnson's caliber lives north of the professional Mason-Dixon line and will keep his job even if wholesale cuts come to pass, he is deeply troubled by the status of doubles. "I think we should be interested in saving -- and providing -- as many jobs as we can," he said. He has no magic solution for bolstering the mass appeal of doubles but places some of the burden on the fans. "Most people who play tennis [recreationally] play doubles, and most people walk away from watching a doubles match saying, 'That was great stuff,'" he said. "Well, if you love doubles, come watch it!"

The shame of it all is that doubles is great fun to watch. Fans who have wearied of baseline tennis and mourn the passing of the serve-and-volley game would do well to watch a player like Todd Woodbridge . In a single game of doubles, one often sees a broader array of shots -- chips, angles, topspin lobs, scrambling gets -- than in a set of singles.

By neglecting doubles, fans are missing out on some of tennis' most compelling backstories; meanwhile, the tour is missing out on a chance to promote them. Johnson is a prime example. A native of Pittsburgh who played tennis at North Carolina and graduated in 1990, he struggled for his first few years on tour but always had a life outside tennis. In the mid 1990s, he played occasionally with Leander Paes , who casually invited Johnson and his wife, Krista , to visit him in India. To Paes' surprise, they took him up on the offer. In the fall of 1995, before Krista started medical school, the Johnsons went to Calcutta and volunteered with Mother Teresa for three months. For 12 hours a day, they worked at the Home for the Dying, the Home for the Destitute and the Orphanage; at night they stayed with the Paes family. Though Mother Teresa was ill and confined to a wheelchair at the time, when she heard that Paes and his friends were at the clinic, she demanded to meet them. "Obviously, it was an unbelievable experience," said Johnson. "I've never seen worse conditions. Not even close."

The doubles version of Wayne Arthurs , Johnson, 33, is a player who didn't come of age until his late 20s. He didn't have a top-100 doubles ranking until he was 28; in 2001 he made more than $500,000. His career highlight came a year ago at Wimbledon when he and Palmer beat Jiri Novak and David Rikl in the final. Even that had its attendant personal drama: Krista had just started an OB/GYN residency at the UNC Chapel Hill hospital. She requested time off to fly to England and watch her husband play for the championship, and she had even found a co-worker willing to cover for her. The chief resident told Krista that she had to be at the hospital when her shift started Monday morning. The final was delayed by rain and Krista had to leave shortly after the first set to catch her flight. When Johnson won, he had the bright idea to call the tower at Gatwick, which radioed to Krista's flight and conveyed the news to her over the intercom. "At least she knew we won before she landed," he said.

He may well go through a similar ordeal this year. Johnson and Palmer are the top seeds here and have advanced to the quarterfinals against Cyril Suk and Martin Damm . Krista is in North Carolina, but there are seats available this weekend on an American Airlines flight to Gatwick. If Johnson and Palmer win again, it would be a great story. It'd be nice if they got some notoriety out of it.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim is in England covering Wimbledon for the magazine. Click here to send a question to his Tennis Mailbag.

 

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