PODCAST - Doubles Special

This week in a slightly different change to the format, Candy Reid and Chris Bowers sat down with World Number One doubles pair, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski to discuss the health of the doubles game and how it might grow and develop in the future. The team also speak to legendary coach and doubles master tactician, Louis Cayer and this year’s Roland Garros doubles champion, Austin Krajicek.WESLEY KOOLHOF ON HOW TO PROMOTE THE DOUBLES GAME - ’The biggest thing is marketing. Obviously the singles guys are the big stars and we also need the big stars to play doubles as well to get more viewers, but I think mainly the marketing side of doubles could be looked at’.NEAL SKUPSKI ON DOUBLES GLOBAL NATURE - ’The points are going to be a lot shorter, quicker around the net, a lot of fun points, it’s a completely different game. It depends on where we go in the world, for example when we go to America we tend to see a lot more fans come just to watch the doubles and places around the world as well, certain countries. Doubles just needs to be shown more on tv to get us out there’.LOUIS CAYER ON HOW THE DOUBLES GAME HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS - ’The game has changed a lot. When I started there was less than ten percent of the serves staying back in doubles, now it’s over sixty percent. It’s very normal now for top singles players and even some doubles players to stay back because of the quality of the return’.AUSTIN KRAJICEK ON REACHING NUMBER ONE EARLIER IN THE YEAR - ‘It’s been a goal of mine to win a Grand Slam and being number one ever since I was a kid. Sometimes it didn't feel it’s attainable and it was a surreal thing, just for a week as Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski passed me by, but I can always say I was number one and hopefully I can get back there’.- Show presented by Candy Reid- Interviews by Candy Reid, Chris Bowers and Jill Craybas