The First Leg of the Seventh Racquets Doubles World Championship was played on Saturday, November 8, 2003 before a packed and highly vocal crowd at the New York Racquet and Tennis Club. The current champions James Male and Mark Hue Williams strung together enough critical points to end the First Leg with a 4-2 lead in games. The challengers – Guy Barker and Alister Robinson were more than game as they opened their championship pursuit. The First Leg game scores were 15-11, 8-15, 15-11, 17-16, 11-15, 15-2.

The key to the first game was effective service by Hue Williams. He came into the box trailing 8-11 and served out the game finishing with an ace. There was very little rhythm to the game as neither side fully took charge and some brilliant shots on both sides were followed by unforced errors. While the racquets may have been somewhat inconsistent in the first game it was done in record time as the players walked off the court 17 minutes after the first serve was struck.

Once the first game was over the challengers did not appear bothered by nerves and in the second game they ran to leads of 9/6 then 13/6. At 13/6 it looked like the holders might make a run of their own, but it was not to be, as Male and Hue Williams were side out and squeezed only two points out of their service. Robinson’s ace was the only point he could muster before he was knocked out by a terrific cross-court winner by Hue Williams, but Barker looked confident as he strode into the service box and drew the match even with his ace to end game two at 15-8.

In the early going of game three the score see sawed as the somewhat inconsistent play continued. Empty hands by Hue Williams and Male were followed by a Robinson empty hand and then a fault by Barker all that action and the score was only 5/5. Hue Williams served timely aces to tie the score again at 8, and succeeded in taking pace off his service looking for a better length on this traditionally warm New York court. The gallery showed its appreciation at the end of the longest point in the match which featured each player hitting with considerable pace and precision. Just when it appeared that more consistent up tempo play was on the menu, an unforced error on a Barker attempted kill was followed by an unforced error by Hue Williams. Barker then hit a brilliant backhand cross court which Male sent straight back to him and Barker’s unsuccessful return sent the score to 11/8 in the champions favor. Three consecutive Robinson aces drew the game close at 11-14, but a crisp winner by Male and a miss hit ball ushered Hue Williams into the service box and his ace ended the third game at 15-11.

The challengers were undaunted by a brilliant Hue Williams service run to 9/0, including 5 aces, to start the fourth game. Their determination was never more apparent than when at 12-4 a bit of miscommunication caused Hue Williams and Male to collide in front of the service box and the challengers made good use of their service opportunities to get back to 9-12 only to lose the service and momentum to fall behind again 14/9. The pace and level of play elevated again and the challengers fought fiercely to tie the game at 14, however, they could not sustain their 2/0 lead in set 3. James Male’s force of will appeared to take over and he ended the game with a patented 2 hand cross court winner. Ironically, what started out as the fastest game in the match turned out to be the longest.

With the game scores 3/1 against them, the challengers were backed clearly against the wall, but they were undeterred by the Male 2/0 start and quickly tied it at 2/2. 3 consecutive Barker aces had their gallery partisans urging the challengers forward, and Barker responded with 2 explosive winners and another ace which ran the score to 10-3. At 8-12 and the champions threatening to narrow the gap, Robinson displayed the extraordinary gentlemanly candor which is a hallmark of this great game and immediately called a ball down on himself which looked marginally up to this and a great many gallery observers. Robinson had the final say as he finished the game with an ace and the challengers were right back in the match trailing only 3/2.

World Championship pressure seemed a bit evident for both sides at the start of game 6, as Robinson could not manage a point and Male and Hue Williams followed with empty hands. The early scoring went back and forth, but after a Barker unforced error sent the score to 3/2, Male seemed to assert himself as he had in game 4 and the momentum he created was sustained by his partner. The champions effectively complemented each other and played their best racquets of the day. Male served several aces down the stretch, and finished out the game and match from 9/2. The game ended after a very good Robinson return of Males serve turned into a devastating winner by Male.

The tournament committee must be commended for the attention to the countless details surrounding a world championship match. Jimmy Burke, racquets and real tennis professional from Bostons Tennis and Racquet Club, marked the match very well and former World Champion Willie Surtees effectively filled a familiar role as match referee.

Denis Walsh from Boston and Tom Shumaker from Detroit remarked after the match that excitement and anticipation surrounding a racquets world championship is unique. Clearly no match the players have played before is more significant or more demanding. We were all left to imagine the relentless pressure under which world championship players move.