"Doubles has given me a lot of confidence, even in my singles. My game -- I come to net, I play aggressive. That's how I play in singles. Doubles has really helped me a lot this year."
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, after she threw a scare into Serena Williams in the third round of the US Open before bowing out 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
NEW YORK -- The Labor Day weekend kickoff crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium got an exciting, delicious match in the third-round clash between top-seeded Serena Williams and the iconoclastic Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Friday night. You can partly thank doubles for that, because it's helped transform Mattek-Sands into a dangerous singles player.
These two women are friends and have a good deal of mutual respect. At first glance they may seem an odd couple. But just the other day, Williams explained why she respects and feels a kinship with Mattek-Sands.
"I love her personality. I love her spirit. She's had a lot of ups and downs throughout her whole career."
Like Williams, Mattek-Sands has dealt with serious injuries -- four major ones, including hip surgery in April of 2014.
There's more, and cheerier, stuff as well. Both women wear their American patriotism on their sleeves. They love dogs. Neither of them hails from a traditional, upscale tennis background, and it shows. Each has experimented at the outer edge of fashion (who can forget Serena's cat suit, or those biker boots -- or Mattek-Sands' leopard-print onesie?).
Most of all, for our present purposes, both are accomplished doubles players -- a detail that played a significant role in Williams' close call on Friday. We don't have to speculate on any relationship between singles and doubles in Williams' case; she's been amazing in both divisions since the outset of her career.
The impact of Mattek-Sands' recent doubles success on her singles play is a different story. She's a case study in how doubles success can provide a player, who has sometimes struggled in singles, with a greatly enhanced toolbox and launching pad for confidence.
Mattek-Sands gave Williams all she could handle over the course of two sets on Friday evening because she is an enthusiastic, unabashed competitor who's learned not to fear the net under pressure. And in attacking and forcing the action the way she did -- a tactic honed on the doubles court -- Mattek-Sands shined a light on a path that too few other women playing against Serena have followed.
"I've been in tight situations. I've been up, I've been down, and had to close out matches in doubles," Mattek-Sands said in her postmatch news conference. "I've been down some in the finals. French Open down a set, had to come back. So you're in those pressure moments. It gives you confidence."
Mattek-Sands and playing partner Lucie Safarova won the Australian and French Open doubles titles this year. Mattek-Sands also won the mixed doubles title at the French Open with Mike Bryan. You don't win doubles matches without returning well, and on Friday night Mattek-Sands hurt Williams with her return game during the first two sets. She created four break point chances, of which she converted three.
"I know she serves big," Mattek-Sands said. "I was ready for it. I like to think that returning is one of my favorite shots. I was really happy with how I did that."
Ultimately, it was all for naught, but it usually is when it comes to toppling Williams. The striking thing is that Mattek-Sands went out there with a confident, healthy attitude. And she pursued a risky but fruitful game plan. Even when Williams was at her most aggressive, often yelling "Come on!" after winning a point, Mattek-Sands felt stimulated rather than intimidated -- or irritated.
"It's competition," Mattek-Sands said, smiling. "I mean, we're both getting pumped up. When you hit a good shot, some people react a little bit more than others with their 'C'mons' or fist pumps. It's all sports; it's all competition. You know, I'm a competitor as well. I think it's fun when you play someone that's on their A-game. You get to see what your game's all about."
On the night, Mattek-Sands' game was all about variety, and standing up to the most formidable tennis game any woman has ever brought to the court. Thanks partly to her experience in doubles, she held up well. At the net afterward, Mattek-Sands told Williams, "I'll be cheering for you to win the tournament."
That's what friends are for -- that and beating each other's brains out, right?