CHAPTER IV.

LADIES’ AND GENTLEMEN’S DOUBLES.

It seems fitting to say something of these matches since most tournaments give prizes for them, but it is very hard to give any definite advice as to the best method of playing them. It depends so much on one’s partner, and on the strength of one’s adversaries.

It may be taken for granted that the lady is not as strong a player as her partner, and the game therefore consists in protecting your own partner and attacking your adversary’s.

As to the choice of court and service, the same principles apply as in doubles, except that the service is worth taking, as one expects to gain an advantage when serving to the lady.

It is perhaps best to put your partner in the left court, as the service will not come so hard to her there as in the other court. Besides, you have more chance of winning the first stroke if you play it yourself, and it is encouraging to have the lead.

The way in which the game is usually played is for the lady to stand on the base-line and nearly at one end of it, so that she can easily reach any balls on that side of the court. The man looks after the rest of the court, and does any volleying that is to be done. The lady’s part of the work is simple enough in theory; she takes all the strokes in her part of the court, and also saves, as far as she can, any balls which her partner fails to reach.

What the man should do is harder to say. My own idea is about as follows:

If the service comes to the man, he should return it hard to the lady opposite, and then follow up to volley her return. In coming forward he should not take the middle of the court, but should keep towards his own side, so that there shall be little danger of her passing him down his own side-line, and also so that his partner may know which side of the court she is to cover.

Supposing that the ball is returned to his partner, the man should not stay forward, or he will leave her to play the whole game against both the adversaries, but he should go back to her assistance till he gets a chance to come forward again.

She, in her turn, has to get the ball away from the man on the opposite side, who has no doubt come forward; and, if she fails, she and her partner must try to save the stroke as best they can. If she succeeds in passing the man opposite, there probably will be a chance for her partner to go forward and volley.

If the man is serving, he should follow up a severe service if he possibly can. For the return of a second service it is better for him to stay back at or about the middle of the base-line, for he can play most strokes better than his partner, and if he goes forward on a weak service the ball will probably come to her.

With both players back in the court, the lady at the corner and the man at the middle of the base-line, he should leave her to play all the balls that come to her. If he takes his partner’s balls, as many do, he must leave his side of the court wholly unprotected, and he is unlikely to gain enough to justify the risk.

If the ball comes to the man, his natural return is to the corner where the lady is standing. If her partner has come forward to volley there should be little difficulty in passing him in a double court, and if he gets out into the middle it may pay to try to pass him on the side away from his partner.

It is so easy to pass a volleyer in a 36 ft. court, that there is not much use in coming forward unless the last stroke has been to the lady, or has been unusually severe.

A man should take more risk in volleying than in the double game, because his partner is unable to do her share of the play, and he can at times go across the court for an easy ball. He should not, however, do this often. He leaves the space behind him unprotected, and is apt to lessen his partner’s confidence.

In cases where he does go across, there should be a distinct understanding as to the place in which his partner should stay. She can either stay where she is, while he goes back to his own side after the stroke, or she can cross and he stay on her side. The latter would, I believe, be the better plan for partners who played often together. The lady has more time to get across the court because she can start as soon as she sees that her partner means to cross himself. In spite of this advantage, I should prefer with most partners to have the lady always keep her own side and the man go back to his, after crossing for a stroke.

If there is no arrangement, the man may be afraid to leave any ball after he has once gone across, because he cannot spare time to see where his partner is.

The amount of risk that should be taken to reach a ball to volley varies with the strength of the adversaries and with the chance of winning the match. If your partner is not as good as the lady opposite, the match must be lost unless you can make up for her weakness. Again, if the man against you is one of the great volleyers, the ball must be kept away from him at any risk. If you let the ball go back to your partner he will get more chances than you can afford to give him. In such a case I feel sure that it is right to go across to volley on the least opportunity.

On the other hand, if your partner is really good, don’t be afraid to trust her; give her plenty of room and don’t worry her. If she is better than the lady opposite, you should play a safe game. Cover your own side and she will win, unless the man against you is an unusually good player.

A very good example took place in some scratch pairs last summer. A very good player drew a lady who could not hit a ball over the net. Against him was a good middle-class player who had one of the best partners that he could have. If the man would have stayed quiet, this pair would certainly have won. Instead of that, he kept getting into the middle of the court, only to be passed down his own side-line.