"I now consider myself a singles player" - Herbert on making the transition from doubles to singles as a tennis player

Friday, 29 May 2020 at 18:30

Herbert_PierreHugues_Montpellier2020 scaled

Having completed a career Grand Slam in the doubles event, most would consider Pierre-Hugues Herbert as a doubles specialist. The Frenchman in fact has 18 career doubles titles to his name, most of which were won alongside compatriot Nicolas Mahut.

However, Herbert has been making noise in the ATP singles circuit, having secured wins over the likes of Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev in 2019.

“I now consider myself a singles player that plays doubles.” says Herbert. "I really do get mad when I hear that I’m just a doubles player".

With retired ATP professional Fabrice Santoro as his coach, Herbert has made a remarkable leap due to his ambition and discipline. Santoro joined his team almost two years ago, and is the first to recognize his student's emerging talent and drive.

"When we first started working together he was around No. 100-110 in the world,” said Santoro. “We never thought in the first year he'd stop playing doubles at a Grand Slam, but now that he has broken into the Top 40, the ambition is different. He trusts his game and is stronger. We tried to make him stronger in the legs, with better footing on the ground, because if he is stronger in the legs, he'll be more aggressive from the baseline to the net. Before he was a little weaker in the legs, and he struggled moving to balls.”

Herbert's hard work has translated to the court, as the 29-year old reached has three ATP singles finals - Winston Salem in 2015, Shenzhen in 2018 and Montpellier in 2019. Although he is yet to win a singles title, the Frenchman believes he is on the right path.

“I’ve felt for the past few years that I’ve gotten better in singles, particularly over the past 12 months since Roland Garros,” admits Herbert. “I want to get better in practice and learn from my matches.”

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B5A5ib7IheO/[/embed]

Arthur Ajayi

Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.

As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.

With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.

See author's posts

claps 0visitors 0

Pavlyuchenkova looks back on her 2018 triumph in Strasbourg over Cibulkova

Winner's Circle: Sabalenka powers through to lift Doha title