/ Barry Millns / 24 July 2008 /

Barry Millns looks at the top seeds who are teaming up with lesser known players in Toronto.

Think of great doubles partnerships in the Open era and the likes of Fleming & McEnroe or the 'Woodies' (Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge) come to mind. Multiple winners of major doubles titles, they were also all ranked inside the singles Top 20 during their careers (as well as the No.1 doubles player) and knew what it took to win trophies on their own.

Today, though, very few of the leading singles players compete regularly in doubles, such are the demands of the modern game. Only when they move back onto a different surface, as they have this week at the Toronto Masters (and have a team event such as Davis Cup or the Olympic Games looming) do we see them choose to play in both events to get the extra court time and brush up their partnerships.

For the fans who can't afford seats around the show-courts, this can offer a rare opportunity to get a close-up view of the world's best players on an outside court. Hence the week began in Toronto with a crush around Court 1 to see Andy Roddick team up with Mardy Fish and then Roger Federer play alongside his Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka.

In fact, six of the top eight singles seeds in Toronto also entered the doubles, including Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, Andy Murray and man of the moment Rafael Nadal. But the Spaniard summed up their approach to it when he said: "I am focused on singles. Doubles, well, I going to try my best for sure, but it's different, no? It's a little bit more practice to try to play well in Olympics."

Yet for those who opt to concentrate solely on doubles it is a very serious business. Take the world No.1 Daniel Nestor, who recently won Wimbledon with Nenad Zimonjic and has earned almost $620,000 in prize money so far this season.

Nestor once ranked as high as No.58 in singles but aside from Davis Cup matches and a series of wild card entries into Canadian tournaments, he has not played singles regularly on tour since 2001. He is not alone in that and, clearly, with the vital move a few years ago to repackage doubles into a shortened, more marketable and self-sustaining format outside of the grand slams the rewards are sufficient for many to make a lucrative career out of it.

Just look at Jamie Murray who wisely opted for doubles two years ago, very early in his career, after peaking at No.834 in singles! Now the world No.33 in doubles, he has earned almost $120,000 this year, primarily with partner Max Mirnyi, whereas the current world No.834 in singles, a certain Mikhail Fufygin from Russia, has earned less than $2,000 in prize money so far in 2008.

It is also true to say that the current world No.33 in singles, Philip Kohlschreiber, has earned nearly five times as much as Jamie Murray this season. But few would argue that the Scot made the right decision when he raised his profile hugely last year, partnering Jelena Jankovic to the Wimbledon mixed doubles title.

On closer inspection the average age of the world's Top 10 doubles players is 33 and for most the decision to specialise is made for them as they struggle to reach or stay in the top tier of the singles game - only two other current Top 10 doubles players aside from Nestor ever ranked inside the Top 100 in singles. Very rarely a player who initially shines in doubles, transfers successfully to singles - back in 2002 the Czech Radek Stepanek ranked as high as No.13 in doubles, four years before he broke into the singles Top 10.

But the general trend is very much in the opposite direction as it is in the women's game although, as we saw at Wimbledon, the Williams sisters still found the time and energy to follow up their singles final against each other by winning the doubles title together for the third time.

Singles will undoubtedly remain the pinnacle of the sport and attract the biggest bucks in the process. But doubles definitely has its place, appealing particularly to fans who still wield a racket because doubles is what the vast majority of them tend to play.

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