The team bosses at the United Cup don’t have it easy when it comes to lining up their doubles pairs. This becomes particularly clear using the example of the US team.
by Jens Huiber
last edited: January 2, 2024, 2:46 p.m
Jessica Pegula and Rajeev Ram had no assignments against Australia
If there are no guarantees in real life, then certainly not in sport. Even Novak Djokovic goes through a few unexpected moments of weakness every now and then. Like most recently in the Davis Cup final against Jannik Sinner. Or at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo against Alexander Zverev.
And so the lineups in the doubles at the United Cup become a pure game of chance. Let’s take the German team: Yes, Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber won their mixed doubles against the not so great Italians. But that would probably also have been the case with Laura Siegemund, a significantly better doubles player than Kerber. Against France, Kerber/Zverev put in a strong performance, but then lost to Caroline Garcia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin despite having a match point. Would Laura Siegemund have…?
Ram and Pegula have no chance
The situation in the US team was interesting. Jessica Pegula, who is one of the best pair skaters in the world, was out of the question for the doubles against Great Britain and Australia. But against the British, Rajeev Ram was expected to be at Pegula’s side, at the latest after the first set was lost 1:6. But good thing: David Witt, the American captain, did everything right in the end. Because Pegula won together with Taylor Fritz against Katie Boulter and Neal Skupski.
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But things got exciting on New Year’s Day: Witt actually sent Pegula/Ram into the race against Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter. What was required in this meeting of the doubles experts was a set win for the USA, which would have been enough to win the group and thus advance to the quarter-finals. The result was 6:3 and 6:1 for Australia. Hmmm. So the bottom line is: don’t trust any statistics at all. But just the gut feeling on match day.
It’s only really easy if you have Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz on your team. Because with these two it can happen that they just go out and don’t let their opponents win a single game. Like Sara Sorribes Tormo and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Monday.
2024-01-02 18:30:00
#eternal #crux #doubles #lineup #tennisnet.com
