Australian Doubles Tennis Instruction

Australian Doubles anyone? Most players think Australian Doubles is just a weird lineup that is supposed to somehow bother your opponents so that the receiver misses the return of serve. Though the chances of a missed or off-target return are a bit greater, the real purpose of Australian Doubles is to set up the opposition switched so that you can easily poach service return.

It is also an excellent serve-and-volley formation for teams that want to play serve-and-volley but are having little success from the normal Up-and-Back Formation.

Check out the four new lessons on Australian Doubles:

Australian Doubles Avenues to Victory
The Australian Doubles Play
Australian Doubles Net Play Tactics
Australian Doubles Serving Tactics

And then, for a review, see this animated tutorial on how to play, and how to defend against, Australian Doubles.

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The Operation Doubles Tennis Connection

The April 2008 issue of the Operation Doubles Connection is now online. Sign up here for your free email copy of this newsletter every month.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

What's New at Operation Doubles Tennis
Featured Tennis Website of the Month
This Month's Tennis Quiz
This Month's Tennis Q & A
This Month's Shot-Making Tip

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Davis Cup Quarterfinals

Congratulations to Russia, Argentina, Spain, and the United States for their World Group Quarterfinal victories this past weekened.

All four teams advice to the semifinals in September, where Argentina will take on Russia and the United States will take on Spain.

USA v France:

Friday

Andy Roddick (USA - 6th ranked) def Michael Llodra (FRA - ranked 41): 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

James Blake (USA - 8th ranked) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA - 12th ranked): 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-3 3-6 7-5


Saturday

Arnaud Clement (ranked 70) /Michael Llodra (FRA) def Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA): 6-7(7) 7-5 6-3 6-4


Sunday

Andy Roddick (USA) def Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA): 6-2 6-3 6-2

James Blake (USA) def Richard Gasquet (FRA - ranked 10th): 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4

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Davis Cup Quarterfinal: The United States v France

What a shame. In true Mohammed-Ali style, 13th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France fired up the Davis Cup tie between the United States and France with some good, old fashioned jive about us Americans "fearing" the French.

Now he has gone home with a knee injury the French Tennis Federation announced yesterday.

That wasn't really such a blow, as Tsonga's runner-up finish at the Australian Open is his only great achievement to date. But he was arguably France's best chance in singles on a fast court.

Tsonga was replaced with Arnaud Clement, and at that point, the best guess was that France would have Richard Gasquet and Paul-Henri Mathieu play singles with Clement and Michael Llodra teaming up to play doubles.

But now 8th-ranked Richard Gasquet has blisters, so he's out too.

The quarterfinal tie begins Friday and runs to Sunday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Here's the lineup as it now stands:

Friday
Andy Roddick (USA - 6th ranked) v Michael Llodra (FRA - ranked 41)
James Blake (USA - 8th ranked) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA - 12th ranked)

Saturday
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) v Arnaud Clement (ranked 70) /Michael Llodra (FRA)

Sunday
Andy Roddick (USA) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
James Blake (USA) v Michael Llodra (FRA)

See also:
"The Americans will fear us."
Davis Cup Dialog

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Fake Rackets from China Flood the Asian Market

Thinking to get a Wilson K Blade at a very nice price from China? Think again.

Via Nawin of the Regentville Tennis Blog in Singapore:

About a year ago I wrote an article about a fake Babolat Pure Drive and how fake tennis racquets being passed off as genuine item. A year has passed and the counterfeit tennis racquet industry has grown even more in prominence and stature. ...The fake tennis racquets are looking every bit as genuine as their authentic cousins. ...Most of the major tennis manufacturers such as Head, Wilson, Babolat, Dunlop, Prince and a few others are produced under license from racquet manufacturing plants in China. The question in one’s mind now is whether this is a genuine or counterfeit tennis racquet? Truth be told, it’s now very difficult to judge unless you really know your tennis racquet.

Read the rest and see photo comparisons.

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Tennis Strategy & Tactics Guides

Time is running out to save on any edition the Operation Doubles Strategy Guide and/or the Match Play Guide - paperback, PDF, or on CD-ROM - during the March Madness Sale, which ends Monday.

Davis Cup Roster

The Davis Cup quarterfinal tie between the United States and France will take place April 11-13 at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The French Davis Cup captain, Guy Forget, has announced his roster:
Richard Gasquet
Paul-Henri Mathieu (either singles or doubles)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Michael Llodra (doubles for sure)

Mathieu replaces Arnaud Clement, who was on the French squad that beat host Romania, 5-0, in the Davis Cup opening round in February.

The American Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe, will use the same lineup that won the Davis Cup last year:

No. 1 singles starter Andy Roddick
No. 2 singles starter James Blake
Doubles players Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan

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