Doubles Re-ignited

It is not often that Andy Roddick graces a doubles court. The only two times Andy has played doubles this year, have been in Houston and Rome. However, Andy has since decided that the time is ripe for another stab at doubles.

In Rome, Andy hinted that his coach, Dean Goldfine, was encouraging him play doubles, with the view to improving certain aspects of his game. As the tennis season draws to an end, Andy, who has qualified for the Masters Cup in Shanghai, will be looking to fine tune all aspects of his game. Doubles will be excellent preparation for him.

His partner in crime this week is fellow American James Blake. After a stunning summer, finishing with a US Open quarterfinal appearance, James has gone from strength to strength, just last week catching the Stockholm title. Not playing in the singles event in Madrid, James will be looking excel in the doubles competition.

This should be fun reunion for the two as Andy and James have played together before. They competed in the doubles event in Basel in 2002, where they reached the semi-finals. They also partnered each other twice in 2001, at Memphis and Miami. Andy has won two doubles titles before, and James has five doubles trophies under his belt. However, the two have never captured a title together.

The first obstacle in Madrid is the team of Thomas Johansson and Max Mirnyi. Max Mirnyi is a three times doubles Grand Slam champion and in addition holds many doubles titles. His partner, Thomas Johansson is a very talented player, and a singles Grand Slam champion.

The match is scheduled to be played on Pista Cibeles, not before 4.30pm (local time). 10:30am (EST).

Good luck Andy and James!!