TN Q&A BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS

By Richard Pagliaro

Former world No. 1 doubles star talks comeback, dream doubles partner and reaction to USTA axing US Open mixed doubles.

Smash spirit bubbled within Bethanie MattekSands before she began the unique 2020 World TeamTennis season.

Happy hour comes every minute the 35-year-old Mattek-Sands steps on court.

Partnering former Wimbledon finalistGenie Bouchard, an energized Mattek-Sands helped the Chicago Smash light it up in the expansion franchise’s World TeamTennis debut season at the Greenbrier. We caught up with the former world No. 1 doubles standout for this interview where she discusses essential qualities for doubles partners, disappointment with the USTA decision to cancel the US Open mixed doubles event and her dream doubles partner.

TN: You and Genie Bouchard have been a strong team for Chicago. What makes a great teammate? What qualities do you look for and value in a partner? And what qualities do you try to bring to the table both with Genie and in general?

Bethanie Mattek-Sands: Doubles for me is all about energy and chemistry. I’ve been lucky to play doubles with a lot of good friends of mine—players that I would call friends off the court.

And it really comes down to figuring out what your strengths are. Where is Genie the strongest? Where am I the strongest? What’s our strongest position?

Other than that, especially in this World TeamTennis format, it’s really about bringing energy. Because the momentum can shift point-by-point and you have fast points. You let eight points go by and all of a sudden you’re down two zero in a fivegame set.

Genie has brought the energy to every match we play. We’ve mixed up our tactics—we have her at net, we’re doing I formation—so we’re really mixing it up. It’s really a matter of working out the tactics that can make everyone play their best shots out there.

That’s kind of my secret with whoever I play with—whether they’re a great volleyer or great baseliner—sometimes they serve stronger, others are better at returns. We just figure out where everyone’s best, what’s their strength and play to it.

Photo credit: World TeamTennis

Photo credit: World TeamTennis

TN: Have you decided who you will partner at the US Open? Do you think there’s any chance the USTA will bring the mixed doubles back given they did bring back the wheelchair event after axing it?

Bethanie Mattek-Sands: Seriously, I was extremely bummed when they announced that they would not be holding the mixed competition this year.

Obviously, I won the last two years with Jamie [Murray]. I was really looking forward to it. Plus, you only play it four times a year and it’s such high entertainment value. In what other sport do you see men and women competing on an equal playing field? At the end of the day, look at the highlights and what it is as a competition. You have a guy and a girl working together playing against another guy and another girl.

Personally, I think we should play mixed doubles more often. That’s why I love here in World TeamTennis it’s part of the event. You’re seeing the best of the game. You’re seeing singles highlights, you’re seeing doubles highlights and you’re seeing mixed doubles highlights. So you’re getting the best of the tennis product in World TeamTennis. And it’s exactly what I think we should be offering more in our week-to-week events.

Photo credit: World TeamTennis

TN: Last question, your dream doubles partner. Who are you picking?

Bethanie Mattek-Sands: Yeah. I’m not gonna lie: it’s awesome to play with John Isner. Playing with that serve behind you all the time, John makes you look like a god at the net [laughs].

You look at Martina Hingis, she came back and played phenomenal. I played against her a few times. And I would have loved to have played with her.

I think Martina is so smart on the court. Martina has such great court awareness, but she was playing with one of my best buddies, Sania Mirza, for pretty much the whole time she was back. And I was playing with Lucie [Safarova]. Who else in history? Growing up, my idol was Monica Seles. I don’t think she played a lot of doubles—I’m not sure I’ll have to look it up. But I feel I play pretty well with singles players ripping from the back.

I feel like I would have been like “Monica, you just rip the shit out of the ball” and I feel like we would have been a pretty good team. I’m also biased because Monica Seles was one of the first professional players I got to meet when I was young. And Monica is one of the reasons I pursued tennis so I feel like that would probably be my pick, for sure.