Doubles or nothing: How do tennis pairings work themselves out?

“Who wants to play mixed at wimby,” tweeted tennis World No 12 Coco Gauff, just weeks before the iconic grass court tournament was due to start.

The most surprising volunteer? One of the most successful Alpine skiers of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin who amusingly responded to the call out with a hand waving emoji.

If you’ve ever thought about how doubles pairings get together for the Grand Slams this was probably not it. You might think players have the same partner, or perhaps plan the perfect combination. Certainly true in some cases, but not so, apparently, when it comes to teenage American and last month's Roland Garros finalist, Gauff.

For some, the doubles tournament is a side hustle, a chance to expand their tennis knowledge, a time to have some fun, and potentially a trophy. For others, doubles – whether mixed, women’s, men’s or wheelchair – is their raison d’etre, their drive, their goal.

So ahead of the doubles tournament at Wimbledon, which starts Wednesday (29 June) for doubles, mixed Friday 1 July and wheelchair doubles events a week later, Olympics.com takes a look at memorable doubles pairings and how they came about.

Under pressure

At Wimbledon in 2019 Serena Williams and Andy Murray joined up for a crowd-pleasing mixed doubles throw of the dice. Taking pride of place on Centre Court – unusual for a doubles match – the twosome knew this was a once in a lifetime experience, coming about after Williams’ then coach Patrick Mouratoglou contacted his opposite number in Murray’s camp, Jamie Delgado to see if Andy would be interested in playing mixed with Serena.

“She is one of the best tennis players of all time and one of the biggest female athletes ever,” said Andy. “It is something I may never get another chance to do, I might not play mixed doubles again. So if I am going to do it once, the chance to play with her is obviously brilliant and not something I expected to happen.”

Serena, meanwhile, joked that the real reason she wanted to team up with Murray was to experience being an honorary Brit at Wimbledon. Be careful what you wish for…

"At some point I started feeling a lot of pressure," she said at the time, perhaps surprisingly of a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion. “I have to do well,” she said, of almost preferring to be watching it as a fan, “because this match is so hyped that I want to see it.”

Out of the blue

Ons Jabeur also got an unexpected call from the Serena camp, with an invitation to play doubles at pre-Wimbledon grass court tournament, the Eastbourne International last week. Serena had been out for a year but surprised the tennis world with a tweet stating she would be playing at Wimbledon.

Turns out, Jabeur, the highest ranked African and Arab tennis player ever, had been approached by the team at the French Open last month.

"I wanted to tell everyone but obviously I couldn't," Jabeur told the WTA Tour. "She's such a legend and such an example for our sport. I'm really nervous to play. I hope the match will be great and we'll have great matches."

The duo played and won two matches before withdrawing due to an injury to Jabeur.

The pairing came about after Venus Williams' coach Eric Hechtman, who is now also working with Serena, reached out to Jabeur's coach Issam Jellali before the French Open.

"I don't know why she picked me to be honest. Maybe she watched Madrid," Jabeur said before they took to the court, referencing her breakthrough moment of becoming the first African to player to win a WTA Masters 1000 event in May.

Noted for using their platforms for the greater good, Venus gave some indication why Serena would have been interested in pairing with the Tunisian, in an interview at Wimbledon last summer.

"Ons, I would say, is one of my favorite people on tour," said Venus. "Honestly she’s just breaking down barriers. The first woman from her country to do anything that she’s doing.

"You’re gonna see a whole other generation of women from North Africa coming into tennis. It’s going to be all owed to her. She’s inspiring so many people, including me. She gives 100% every time, holds herself in a way that she respects and that people can respect."

Under the radar

Andy is well aware of the dearth of publicity surrounding the doubles, particularly since his older brother Jamie Murray is a seven-time Grand Slam champion in the discipline – four more majors than Andy has in the singles – yet receives less publicity.

“Sometimes doubles gets a hard time, it is seen as easy compared to singles,” he said. “It is easier in some respects but best-of-five [men’s] doubles is tough as well so I have to respect that, by eating right and stretching, warm-ups and preparations. I can’t think: ‘Oh, it is doubles, it will be fine and I can get away with it by not doing all that stuff’.”

But at this year’s Wimbledon, Jamie is set to play mixed doubles with Venus, herself a seven-time singles major winner. Another crowd pleaser is on the cards.

Wimbledon: How to watch the All England tennis Championships

Wimbledon takes place from Monday 27 June – Sunday 10 July 2022 at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in south west London.

You can find all the latest information, including a list of broadcasters by territory, on the Wimbledon website.