Pick a partner and stick to him. He should be a man you like and
want to play with, and he should want to play with you. This will
do away with much friction. His style should not be too nearly
your own, since you double the faults without greatly increasing
the virtues.
I am a great believer in a brilliant man teaming up with a steady
player. Let your steady man keep the ball in play, and allow your
brilliant man all the room he wants to "poach" and kill. Thus you
get the best of both men.
Doubles is a game of finesse more than speed. The great doubles
players, the Dohertys, Norman E. Brookes, the greatest in the
world to-day, Roper Barrett, Beals Wright, and F. B. Alexander,
are all men of subtle finesse rather than terrific speed.
It requires more than speed of shot to beat two men over a
barrier 3 to 3 1/2 feet high with a distance of some 32 feet. It
is angles, pace, and accuracy that should be the aim in a great
doubles game. Resource, versatility, and subtlety, not speed, win
doubles matches.
PART III: MODERN TENNIS AND ITS FUTURE
CHAPTER X. THE GROWTH OF THE MODERN GAME
Lawn tennis is the outgrowth of the old French game of the courts
of the early Louis. It spread to England, where it gained a firm
hold on public favour. The game divided; the original form being
closely adhered to in the game known in America as "Court
tennis," but which is called "Tennis" in England.
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