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By Roger Kaplan on 8.3.11 @ 6:07AM

U.S. congressmen should be playing doubles.

James Blake took care of Legg Mason Classic defending champion David Nalbandian in two easy sets Tuesday evening, sending forth the happy message that nice guys do not necessarily finish last and it is never too late to come back from a hole -- a hole in a game, or in one's career, as has been the case in Blake's lately. This is surely good news for U.S. tennis, and (pardon these facile comparisons), for the American economy, presently taking a terrible shellacking from precincts directly south of the uptown 16th Street N.W. venue of the tournament, a Washington institution.

Actually, that you can come back from a bad spot -- a hole -- is part of what tennis teaches you, as do most sports. Losing the first set never means anything, except that you lost the first set. And since it is not over till it is over, you are not, objectively, in a worse place than your opponent: each point begins the contest anew.

Nalbandian and Blake are both past champions here -- Nalbandian's victory last year was the most recent in a long line of Argentine players who have done well on the Rock Creek Tennis Center's courts, and he was favored against an attractive but erratic player whom everybody always thinks of as second-best. He played, as an alert fan, Patrick Rayner, pointed out, as if his racquet has been strung for someone with an entirely different style of play, unable to get his normally deep baseline shots over the net, while James Blake played a smooth strong steady game throughout, punctuated by the power service he used against Tatsuma Ito the previous day and the speed that, at 30, still marks him as an effective all-court man.

It was not a bad day for Americans, underscoring that we have not yet got to the level of Greece or Panama despite our politicians' best efforts. The teenage phenom Ryan Harrison settled down after a spot of temper to take a decisive three-setter from Mischa Zverev -- Germans are not doing well at all this year here -- and another young phenom, Ryan Sweeting, showed strong stuff against a fellow-American, Alex Bogomolov, which gives him the privilege of going up against the tournament's number one seed, Gael Monfils of France, probably on Wednesday evening.

You win some you lose some. Tim Smyczek, still another young American, lost by a couple of points, in three nearly even sets, to Grigor Dimitrov, a man to watch in case we are fated to have a Bulgar Bjorn Borg on the professional circuit in the years ahead. Dimitrov simply refused to be fazed by Smyczek's relentless pounding of shots down the line, returning them like a machine, albeit one who, in the last games, looked exhausted.

Perhaps expressing the American predicament, a half-American doubles team, composed of Eric Butorac (USA) and Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands Antilles), won the hardest-fought doubles match of the day, over an all-American team composed of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram, a nerve-wracking contest during which both Lipsky and Butorac seemed determined to follow every stroke of genius with an error. In the end Lipsky was more error-prone than Butorac and the contagion affected his partner while Rojer, on his side, kept his nerve and his team's focus.

Say what you will, singles tennis is a sport for selfish brooders. They may be people who, off the court, are as capable of altruism and generosity as St. Francis or R. Hillel, but in a match they have to carry individualism to an extreme if they want to win. Never give an opponent an even break -- or any break. In doubles, the game changes dramatically. Here, you must show generosity on practically every point, deliberately and intelligently thinking of how to set up winning situations for your partner. The whole idea of the serve in doubles, to take the most elementary example, is to force your receiving opponent to return in the middle -- allowing your partner to answer with an unreturnable smash. If the ball stays in play, you have to hit in such a way your partner is protected from overpowering shots in his direction.

This creates an atmosphere on the court that is radically different from the one prevailing during a singles match. Doubles is a game of collegiality and comradeship, teamwork. It is why in English public (private) schools, in the days when these schools produced the men who ran England, and therefore half the world, the doubles game was considered a better pedagogic tool than the singles game.

With several experienced teams at the Classic, including the mighty Bryan brothers and the Indo-Pak Express of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi, the doubles draw promises to be lively. It is ridiculous to suggest that American congressmen take time to play some doubles, but it really would not be such a bad idea. If nothing else, there would be that much less time when they could inflict damage on the rest of us.

About the Author

Roger Kaplan is a writer in Washington, D.C.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (25) | Leave a comment

Dick Nome| 8.3.11 @ 6:55AM

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Elron H.| 8.3.11 @ 9:57AM

In the spirit of yet another THRILLING report from the world of tennis by Roger Kaplan, I am pleased to post the following information. I hope everyone will enjoy it!

HOW TO PAINT A GARAGE FLOOR.

If you think it’s impossible to turn an old grimy garage floor into something that looks new, nice and clean, then you should use a garage floor paint. It makes the garage a more comfortable work environment and, if the floor is new, it helps to maintain it in its best condition. The problem encountered by most do-it-yourself painters is that the floor of a garage is barely an ideal surface to apply paint. Usually, it is a dirty, stained, oily and cold surface that will just easily make the paint to chip and peel off. So what’s the right thing to do?

In order to make sure that your application of paint on your garage floor is successful, you have to thoroughly prepare it. First, you should be using the appropriate kind of paint. The paint that you have should be specially designed for garage floors or, at least, it should be made to be used on a concrete surface.

Carefully follow all the instructions. Your choice of paint will contain directions from its manufacturer which includes the right preparation of the surface and application of the paint. If you want to achieve a great and professional-looking paint job, it is important that you carefully follow all the outlined instructions. It is common among paint instructions to tell you to thoroughly clean the surface for preparation. In cleaning, you have to do sweeping, vacuuming and totally removing all oil and grease stains present on the surface. Never skip this step! Paint will fail to bond if the surface is oily and it is a guarantee that your paint job will have a very short life.

Although it may be much more difficult to control, your climate is an important factors aside from just the floor temperature. If you live in a moist or humid climate all drying times will be extended. You should consider these things when you are painting the garage floor. If the surface is cold, it will prevent the paint from sticking so it’s much better to apply it on a warmer surface. The temperatures of the air and of the floor are not the same in some instances so you may need to use a space heater to warm the floor up. Schedule the painting of your garage floor in warmer months or at warmer parts of the day.

If you have the right garage floor paint and you take time to fully prepare the surface before starting to paint your garage

Mike Hawk| 8.3.11 @ 10:36AM

I could fit this in while my tomatoes are ripening. Thanks for the tip.

Bob Grant| 8.3.11 @ 11:17AM

Heh, Heh,

It's Wednesday and I feel chipper so I'll refrain from any nasty comments about tennis coverage on a political site. I also fear Conservative Bob' s wrath.

If he writes a lengthy article about senior mixed doubles, however, all bets are off.

rendite| 8.3.11 @ 5:16PM

Elron, thanks a million. How did you know I had this very garage floor project as the very next on my "honey do list?" Uncanny.

Say, your excellent write-up merits serious consideration by the Amercian Spectator leadership. If it were up to me, finding your post the best of the entire day so far, I'd be twisting your arm for a weekly -- every Wednesday -- feature column.

Yes, right here on spectator.org.

What do you say? Yes, we'll throw in a copy of "The Very Best of Aaron Goldstein, Volume 1a" (personally autographed) for you so you just can't say no.

Maybe you can do a focus piece on mold and mildew in the basement for next Wednesday?

Or pesky leaves build up in the gutters?

Clint| 8.3.11 @ 10:06AM

Zzzzzzzzz !

Arizona Bob| 8.3.11 @ 11:03AM

El, et al, excellent shot! Thick and closed to the world: that is the real reason why the conservative blogosphere is illiterate and getting ready to blow the next elections. Out here in the west where we stay fit and trim (mind and body, heart and soul) in order to chase down parasites of left and right both, we appreciate it -- but within limits -- when they show us their colors.

Clint| 8.3.11 @ 11:13AM

" colors" ?

U r a Aridsoda rasist !

Pancho| 8.3.11 @ 12:36PM

Hola, Clintino, no seas tonto. El autor es un deportista y Nalbandian jugo un mal partido.

Clint| 8.3.11 @ 1:13PM

You're Silly.

We be talkin' about Aridsoda Boob, the athlete wannabe.

Learn ta speke proper Englesh.

Elron H.| 8.3.11 @ 3:32PM

My Spanish may be a tad rusty, Clint, but I think he said he likes you.

Carpe diem, Clint!

Bob Grant| 8.3.11 @ 3:35PM

And he's into gerbils. An amusement park of fun for you.

Clint| 8.3.11 @ 7:21PM

Gender Confused Grant's Into Gerbil & Sheep Sandwiches..

Clint| 8.3.11 @ 7:26PM

It's Rusty, Just Like Your Bedsprings, Little Bedwetting Israel Firster Cowardly Hiding Troll.

He Wrote, "Hello Clint, the writer's a sportsman and was jeering Nalbandian for a bad match.

TrueBlue| 8.3.11 @ 2:41PM

It may have been a tennis article, but he did make a good point. Our Congressmen do not act like team players. America is their partner, and they are still playing like singles tennis players more concerned with their own glory (getting reelected) than making sure we actually win the game and remain the greatest country in the world.

Mike Hawk| 8.3.11 @ 3:33PM

Football or Baseball would have been a better analogy. ZZZZZZZ

TrueBlue| 8.3.11 @ 4:08PM

Too many "superstar" types in Football and Baseball. Besides, I can't think of any major events for either of those two sports recently, and picking a team to write the article on would just get people to complain he didn't pick the right team, or how this or that team is horrible.

Dick Nome| 8.3.11 @ 6:21PM

I think you helped reinforce his point. Superstars don't necessarily make a winning team.

Bob Grant| 8.3.11 @ 3:38PM

That's true but to get someone to actually read the article he should have used another sport for the analogy like soccer or synchronized judo.

Dick Nome| 8.3.11 @ 6:23PM

..or competative thumb wrestling.

rendite| 8.3.11 @ 5:07PM

If we want to talk pedagogic thrusts for teens and young men in their early twenties to best develop and shape the future generations, let's explore why rugby and not cricket or even football (soccer) is the prefered sport of choice.

Certainly not sports? like baseball.

Yes, rugby. (amateur only -- for youth and very young men -- as a tool for lifetime lessons and development)

While I'm not sure how we can always tie sports or certainly tennis to the vital issues of our day, I'll take these Kaplan articles over Aaron Goldstein's ridiculous baseball posts (who reads them?) or today's bit on Randy Moss.

Like, who cares?

Who benefits from this fodder?

Bob Grant| 8.3.11 @ 6:01PM

"Who benefits from this fodder?"

We all do because the article generally ignites some threads on the comment board that are interesting but have nothing to do with the original article.

Why is soccer not the preferred sport of choice in America? Now that will generate an interesting thread so here goes: ....Sports fans in this country have some bizarre dislike of soccer that is hard to grasp. Their dislike of the sport is so over the top there must be some larger underlying reason. Is it because soccer wasn't popularized in this country? Is it because average sized guys not bulked up on steroids make it a "sissy" sport? Is it because they don't understand it? Is it because of the lack of scoring? ....

...I dunno. All I know is give me a good Premier League or Champion League game and I'm good to go!!

Groad| 8.3.11 @ 8:42PM

Baseball and Football (American) are distinctly American sports. We invented them, therefore we love them. Some other places in the world play them (we exported them) but not the way we do. They are generally team sports requiring team strategy and team coordination to defeat the opponent yet still relying on individual performance. We are Americans.