Louis Cayer is one of the preeminent voices in the doubles world, currently helping British doubles players. World No. 1 Neal Skupski, who along with Wesley Koolhof is in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, is one of his charges.

Cayer spoke to ATPTour.com about the biggest differences between coaching singles and doubles players, the intricacies of doubles some might not notice, and more.

How different is it coaching doubles players compared to the singles players?
I’ll start with coaching doubles players, because this is what I presently do. I think it’s a bit underestimated because I have to coach a Deuce-side player, maximise his strengths, his potential. I have to coach the Ad-side player for the same reason, but I have to also coach a team to [figure out] how they will gel, team patterns, team strategy. So it’s like if I have three players to coach. And when I scout, I have to scout the Deuce-side player, scout the Ad-side player and scout how the [opponents] play as a team, which plays they like to do together and combine that. So it’s quite complex.

Plus, I have a philosophy that we have to coach a performer and a player. But what triggers the performer, to activate someone [is different for different people]. For you it could be, ‘Come on, come on’. And the other one is very [calm]. ‘Okay, let’s go, I want to be sure you’re calm for the match’. And so when you do either pep talk, it’s not as complex as a football team or a hockey team, but still you have to gauge a bit what tone you will give to the pre-match talk, respecting the different individuality and stuff like this. So I think it’s quite complex at that level.

Tactics, it’s a lot of offence-defence. In singles, for example, if you serve wide, you make most of the time the volley [into the] open court, particularly if you serve and volley. If you stay back, you look to hit in the open court. But in doubles, if you make a first volley, if the receiver’s partner puts pressure on you, you may have to [go] short cross court. If they both stay back, you volley down the middle on the backhand side… So there’s a lot of decision making that you have to do, because of the complexity of having two players on the court…

Tactics are a bit more complicated [with] exploiting space, covering space. For me in singles, you work with your game style, you’re very confident in game style, you know how to play against three or four major game styles, you’re skillful on different surfaces… and you need especially a great engine. You have to be ready to run side to side for four hours. If you don’t have that big physical engine, I think even if you have nice technique, you cannot succeed in singles.

In doubles, we have to be honest, it is less taxing physically. The matches are an hour and a half, you don’t have these lateral side-to-side [movements]. I don’t say you don’t have to be fit, because they are very fit. But it’s a different type of fitness and the level of endurance required for singles and doubles is not even a close match.

You were talking about your Deuce player, you have your Ad player, and then the team. People who watch doubles might not think about the intricacies of that. What are some other things that people may not recognise about doubles that goes beyond what meets the eye?
On the mental aspect for example, some players were not good in singles and became good in doubles because of the negative self talk that you can have in singles. You lose the point, you’re alone, you get into your little misery, you get a bit down, you start to be flat. In doubles, we have rescue tactics.

There’s the three-second rule — go to your partner whenever you have that dynamic. So I missed a shot, my partner is there right away… It’s easier to be in the present, it’s easier to cultivate the high performance, high-positive energy, which is essential for [finding the] peak-performance state. You cannot get a peak-performance state without high-positive energy.

In doubles, you have a partner to help you to be in that space all the time. So on the mental level, it could be easier than singles where if you’re starting to get tired or negative, or you get beat, I think it takes much more mental discipline to stay fighting like Nadal and Djokovic, who are just amazing.

When people watch doubles, they think of net play, people coming forward and being at the net. What’s something that people don’t understand about the net game that these guys make look so easy?
Okay, first, the myth, I want to make the point [that] there are too many coaches [who] force club members to serve and volley saying, ‘This is the game’. How it’s played now, over 55 per cent of the Top 100 males stay back on their serve. Neal Skupski started to really climb the rankings when he decided to serve and stay back. He can still serve and volley, but he stays back quite often.

So 55 per cent of the men stay back and I would say 95 per cent of the women stay back, so don’t force everybody to serve and volley and to come to the net. But that being said, I think there are three types of volleys.

There’s the volley at midcourt. If you serve and volley, you have to make a ball at midcourt. It’s different footwork technique, different biomechanics…. You join your partner and we call that being in a wall position between the net and the service line. And then you have to cover the court like this.

The down-the-line player, in our system at least, [has] more responsibility of the middle. So you move laterally, but you cut the angle if it comes in the middle, and the other player, same thing. So there’s different skills. And most important, often in singles, they come to the net to finish the point and doubles you come to the net to make the point. So you’re often involved in defence, people hitting very hard at you, stuff like this, where you have to develop a lot of great defensive skills.

NCAA men’s singles champion Ethan Quinn is among 21 college players who will benefit from direct entry into ATP Challenger Tour main draw and qualifying fields as part of the new Accelerator Programme, a joint initiative between ATP and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

The programme was developed to increase the development pathway for top players in the American Collegiate system. Following the NCAA championships last month at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona/Orlando in Florida, it was announced that 21 players would benefit from the Accelerator Programme.

Players ranked in the Top 20 of the ITA final singles rankings who have finished their education are granted up to eight Accelerator Spots at Challenger 50 and 75 tournaments, with opportunities split between main draw (for Top 10 ITA ranked players) and qualifying (11-20). Players who reach the quarter-finals or better of the individual NCAA Division I Tennis Championships also qualify for the Accelerator Programme if not already eligible via their ITA ranking. These opportunities are available from 1 July for a period of 12 months.

Players who continue their education and qualify for the programme will receive six opportunities over six months (July–December), enabling them to benefit from the programme during their college off-season and parts of their fall season.

Accelerator Programme Qualifiers

Casper Ruud knows how to hang tough at Roland Garros.

Repeatedly placed under pressure by Nicolas Jarry in the pair’s fourth-round clash Monday in Paris, the fourth seed battled to a 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 victory. Ruud saved 14 of 17 break points across three tightly contested sets to reach his third major quarter-final.

The Norwegian prevailed in a first-set tie-break, rallied from 1-4 to claim the second set and then 2-4 to clinch the third and seal a three-hour, 20-minute triumph. His rock-solid baseline display in blustery conditions proved decisive against the aggressive Jarry, who hit 56 winners to Ruud’s 30 in an engrossing clash. Yet the Chilean was unable to match his opponent’s consistency at key moments.

Clinical Casper 🫡@CasperRuud98 defeats Jarry in straight sets to advance into the quarter-finals 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5!@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/n7Hfcj155O

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 5, 2023

“It was great for me. Three very, very tough sets,” said Ruud. “I think today I can thank my team for pushing me every day in practice because not every day is as tough as [this one]. But I do the work and I felt physically fine.

“I was ready for more if we had to play more, so it was a win not just for me but my team as well. We have done great work the last couple of years, and I’m happy to be back in the quarter-finals.”

Ruud, who reached the championship match at Roland Garros last year, has now won a Tour-leading 85 matches on clay since 2020. The 24-year-old will take on Holger Rune or Francisco Cerundolo in the last eight as he continues his bid for a maiden Grand Slam crown.

Jarry narrowly defeated Ruud in a three-set quarter-final in Geneva just 11 days ago, and there was once again little to choose between the two players for most of Monday’s encounter. Jarry’s booming serve and powerful groundstrokes ensured he was competitive throughout but Ruud’s high-class defensive skills frequently made the difference in longer exchanges.

Ruud was a point away from falling to a double-break deficit in the second set, but he saved break point at 1-4, 30/40 to hold. That was typical of the World No. 4’s display, as he raised his level to great effect to keep Jarry in his sights.

After completing his second-set comeback, Ruud repeated the feat in the third to frustrate Jarry. He won five of the final six games to clinch victory and improve his ATP Head2Head series record against the Chilean to 2-1.

“It’s difficult. His serve is great, he plays very aggressive,” said Ruud, when asked about the deep returning position he used to counter Jarry’s delivery. “I’m happy that I had enough court to work with today. This court is probably the biggest court on clay that we have, so for me who likes to return from the back, it’s good.

“It’s tough. It’s been windy this year. I think I managed to do well. I was down a break in both the second and the third [sets]… I was very happy I was able to neutralise his serve and win the most important points of the match.”

Despite his defeat, Jarry’s run in Paris was a continuation of the his resurgence in 2023. The Chilean began the year at No. 152 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but lifted his second and third ATP Tour titles, respectively, in Santiago and Geneva to rise to a career-high No. 35 on the eve of Roland Garros. With his fourth-round appearance in the French capital, the 27-year-old has risen six spots to No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Lorenzo Musetti believes Carlos Alcaraz can “probably” win Roland Garros after the pair’s fourth-round clash on Sunday in Paris. The top seed eased to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“[He] was serving really good. We knew that [he is] probably one of the best movers on the Tour,” Musetti said. “As we know, he really likes to drop [shot] and to turn with his forehand and that [shot] is really aggressive and heavy.

“I think today he showed that he probably can win this tournament.”

The Italian entered the match having swept through the first three rounds without losing a set. The 21-year-old had also won the pair’s only previous ATP Head2Head meeting in last year’s Hamburg final.

“I think we both grew a lot since [our] last meeting in Hamburg. Of course, he won a Grand Slam, so it’s something that I think you have inside,” Musetti said. “It’s sort of a massive amount of experience that you need even to go a step forward for the level and to set new goals, to set a new life. So even that, I think it helped him to grow.”

Alcaraz has now won 11 consecutive matches at majors. He claimed his maiden title at this level at last year’s US Open and has now mostly cruised through four rounds in Paris (he missed the Australian Open due to injury).

“I think we know that he is probably the best player in the world, and at the moment it’s really tough to beat him, especially on clay,” Musetti said. “I think he grew a lot since last meeting we had in Hamburg. Today I think I didn’t show my best tennis. But, of course, I don’t want to take any [excuses] on that.

“Carlos deserved to win and deserved to pass to the quarter-finals, so I’m happy for him and for the level that he showed today.”

Musetti explained that Alcaraz is a complete player — physically, mentally and technically. He specifically called out the 20-year-old’s serve.

“[He is] probably one of the toughest players to beat for sure at the moment,” Musetti said. “So he deserves to be No. 1 in the world.”

The four remaining quarter-final places will be claimed on Monday at Roland Garros, where 2022 finalist Casper Ruud and the in-form Holger Rune headline the action in the singles draw.

ATPTour.com previews the remaining fourth-round clashes as well as the key matchups in the doubles draw on the Day 9 schedule in Paris.

[4] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. Nicolas Jarry (CHI)

Ruud has performed somewhere near his best in his Roland Garros run so far. Despite dropping sets to Giulio Zeppieri and Zhang Zhizhen, the Norwegian’s powerful forehand has enabled him to dictate play from the baseline in performances reminiscent of his run to the final in Paris a year ago.

Nicolas Jarry will not be daunted by taking on the Norwegian, however. The Chilean defeated Ruud in three sets in the Geneva quarter-finals just 10 days ago and went on to lift the trophy at the ATP 250. That was the 27-year-old’s second tour-level title on clay this year (he also triumphed at home in Santiago), and he is now into the fourth round at a major for the first time. Can Jarry maintain his momentum against the fourth seed?

[6] Holger Rune [DEN] vs. [24] Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)

Rune looks to keep his red-hot clay-court form going in his maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with fellow big-hitting baseliner Cerundolo. The Dane has made solid progress through the draw as he tries to back up his 2022 quarter-final run, dropping one set across his two matches. The 20-year-old is now 15-3 on clay and will hope his all-around ability proves too much for Cerundolo to handle on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

The Argentine is also a man in form, however. Prior to Roland Garros, he reached the quarter-finals in Rome and a championship match in Lyon, and the 24-year-old has dropped just two sets in Paris en route to the fourth round of a major for the first time. Rune’s ability to keep the ball away from Cerundolo’s hammer forehand could be decisive.

_{^{Argentine’s Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Martin Etcheverry are both playing for a quarter-final spot on Monday. Photo: Amélie Laurin/FFT.}}

[22] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. [28] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

Is Alexander Zverev starting to heat up on the Paris clay? The former World No. 2 faced a tough road back from the ankle injury he suffered in the 2022 semi-finals against Rafael Nadal. His comeback win in the third round against 12th seed Frances Tiafoe felt particularly significant for Zverev, who seems to be rediscovering the consistency required to prevail against the best the ATP Tour has to offer.

The 26-year-old Zverev holds a 3-1 ATP Head2Head advantage over Grigor Dimitrov heading into the pair’s fourth-round meeting in Paris. The former World No. 3 Dimitrov has only reached this stage once before at Roland Garros, but Zverev will be particularly wary of the Bulgarian’s quality coming forward to the net, which could represent a key tactic to knock the German off his rhythm.

[27] Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG)

For the second major in a row, Yoshihito Nishioka has reached the fourth round. The Japanese World No. 33 has recovered from disappointing previous results this year on the European clay with a career-best showing at the French major. His opponent on Monday, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, had not won a main-draw match at Roland Garros before this year: Who can handle the occasion and extend their personal-best run?

Doubles Action

The quarter-final action in the men’s doubles draw kicks off on Monday, when defending champions Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer take on Matwe Middelkoop and his partner, two-time Roland Garros winner Andreas Mies.

The winning team’s semi-final opponents will be 14th seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni or Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, who also face off on Monday. Both last-eight matchups take place on Court Simonne-Mathieu.