Below is an interview with Gaby Dabrowski.
Gaby is a two-time mixed doubles grand slam champion (Australian Open ’18 & French Open ’17), Wimbledon finalist in 2019, and current world #7 ranked WTA doubles player. She was also an Olympic athlete in the 2016 Rio Games for Canada.
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In this conversation, we talk about:
- 1:32 – Gaby’s recent tweet that went viral about doubles on the pro tour – reaction to Marion Bartoli’s comments.
- 3:54 – The pro tour “vibe” on singles vs doubles. How doubles players get less respect. It’s a lot more than just money.
- 8:19 – How it feels to be primarily a doubles player on tour.
- 9:59 – Why top singles players sometimes play doubles & the big issue this creates in tournaments.
- 12:58 – What the players plan to do to help get more exposure for doubles.
- 16:10 – Her 2020 so far, including her results and how she’s handled the stop in play.
- 20:08 – How she got started in tennis, her path to becoming one of the world’s best doubles players, & why she decided to focus on doubles.
- 28:15 – How pro players choose a doubles partner & how her game matches up well with different styles.
- 31:21 – How men’s doubles is different than women’s doubles.
- 33:11 – How Gaby gameplans for a match & makes in-match adjustments. Lots of doubles strategy here!
- 41:47 – What fans can do to help support pro doubles.
- 47:33 – Gaby’s favorite book, pro tournament, & a tennis story she’s never told anyone.
- and a lot more…
The Interview with Gaby Dabrowski
Here is the 50+ minute conversation with Gaby.
Interview Notes
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Below are links to things mentioned during our conversation.
- Doubles fans can fill out this survey to support Gaby & help get more exposure for pro doubles.
- Her twitter thread about doubles on tour.
- Saddlebrook Tennis Academy – where Gaby trained growing up.
- Favorite “Tennis” Book: Thinking Body, Dancing Mind by Chungliang Al Huang*
- Favorite Grand Slam Tournament: The Australian Open
- Favorite Non-Grand Slam Tournament: A tournament in Bastad, Sweden
Doubles is fun to watch. Is it more fun to watch than a singles match between two Top Ten/Twenty Players? Probably not. However, it is MUCH more fun to watch a Top 100 Doubles match than it is to watch an early round singles drubbing of #3 Singles Player against a player ranked #135. Just look at how close many doubles scores are! More competitive.
How about when a Top Ten/Twenty singles player is placed in the Double Draw without the doubles ranking? From a spectators perspective, I cannot agree with Gaby…but it sucks that the number 71 doubles player get bounced from the draw to accommodate the Singles Player. Frankly, I love seeing a good doubles team thrash two “name” singles players who just bash the ball.
Thanks for the comments Mark!
I think it all comes back to… “doubles is a different game.”
It does help to draw a crown when a big singles name plays doubles, but if we can make some of the doubles players better known with more exposure it will grow organically. Doubles is what most tennis fans play 😉
Another thing to add is that doubles matches don’t last as long, so it shouldn’t be a problem adding a doubles match to the center court once per day.