ESPN Wimbledon 2007

WIMBLEDON, England -- Two Williams sisters playing doubles on a single tennis court is a frightening proposition -- if you are standing across the net. Picture a Venus Williams serve coming at you, with Serena prowling at the net.

"All she does is serve, and I just stand there," Serena said. "Sometimes, I don't even move, she plays all the points. My favorite word is 'yours.'"

When Venus and Serena accepted a wild card to play doubles here at Wimbledon they both said they were excited. It is fair to say that the rest of the women's field does not share their enthusiasm.

"They intimidate people," said analyst Mary Carillo. "There's no pretense of hitting around people. They want to hit it through you. We're talking ventilation here. It's naked aggression."

Mary Joe Fernandez, now an ESPN broadcaster, has had the pleasure. Such that it is.

"It was so scary," she said. "Anke Huber, hitting a second serve against those guys? I was taking three steps back, getting ready to duck."

The Williams sisters' renewed partnership has invigorated the concept of doubles and raised its profile here at the All England Club. After facing something akin to extinction two years ago, the new-and-improved doubles game seems to have survived.

"I think we have a better product now," said Bob Bryan, who along with brother Mike constitutes the No. 1-ranked ATP doubles team. "The quality of the matches has improved and I think the fans appreciate it."

"It's in a better state than it was a few years ago," said Darren Cahill, the former coach of both Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt. "Let's face it. If the game wants to expand, if we want to put rackets in the hands of kids, we have to get the sport on TV.

"Unless we're cooperative in making sure that we have an attractive product, we're working against ourselves."

Doubles, of course, is wildly popular at the club (read amateur) level. It is a social game and there is half as much court to cover. At the professional level, however, doubles is hardly beloved. Think of the Arena Football League in relation to the National Football League. It's roughly the same sport, give or take a few tweaks. It's aesthetically pleasing, but the athletes aren't quite as talented and, partially as a result, there is a huge disparity in fan interest.

At Wimbledon, for example, the men and women's singles champions will receive 700,000 pounds. The doubles winners split 222,900.

The reason professional doubles exists is that it helps fill out a tournament's match card as the number of singles matches dwindles -- additional product, if you will. In the second week of a Grand Slam, the courts are full with men's, women's and mixed doubles. The problem was that tournament directors didn't think doubles specialists -- who require lodging, food and transportation -- were pulling their weight. Additionally, broadcasters weren't keen to televise the sport because the length of the matches was so unpredictable.

Two years ago under Mark Miles, the ATP proposed to eliminate those lesser-known players by using singles rankings as the sole criteria for seeding the doubles. Take the Bryans. Since Mike's highest career singles ranking was No. 246 and Bob's was No. 116, they would be excluded from many tournaments. Most doubles specialists had rankings that were even lower.

Predictably, the doubles players were not amused. They sued the ATP, claiming the new criteria would not encourage more singles players to play doubles and charging that the ATP was "trying to annihilate" doubles.

When Etienne de Villiers became the ATP's executive chairman, he eventually brokered a compromise. Doubles entries would be based on a player's singles or doubles ranking, whichever was higher. Matches would feature no-ad scoring and super tiebreakers in lieu of a third set to make them shorter. Further, the ATP would spend more money promoting the sport.

The changes had the intended effect. Matches were an average of 16 minutes shorter, down to 71 minutes in 2006. Through the first half of the 2007 season, that average hasn't changed. At most tournaments, doubles follows singles at a night session on the main court. At Los Angeles, the doubles match opened the evening and set the table for singles. When the Black Eyed Peas opened for the Rolling Stones during their American tour in 2005, they knew the deal. Play for an hour (or less) and get off the stage. That's the concept the ATP is going for.

And, according to the ATP, participation was up 15 percent by singles player from 2005 to 2006.

After watching the doubles experiment closely, the WTA announced on Friday it was adapting the ATP's scoring changes.

"We really believe if we can increase the predictability of doubles and decrease the court time," said WTA President Stacey Allaster, "that will encourage more coverage, both on television and broadband."

When Allaster mentioned shorter matches at a WTA press conference, defending Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo smiled and said, "Thank you." She was originally entered here in doubles, but she pulled out for fear a mild thigh strain would compromise her chances in singles.

"You spend less time on the court," Mauresmo said. "As a singles player, you are thinking, 'What happens if I have to play a third set [in doubles]? What if I have to play a singles match the next day, and maybe another doubles match?' For me, as a singles player, it's a good solution."

Mauresmo conceded that the doubles players "were not happy," but the men had the same initial reaction and eventually came around.

"I think it's worked out really well," Mike Bryan said. "No one's griping about the scoring. It's shorter, and that favors the better teams. With more pivotal points, the better team has the advantage."

The one downside, according to the Bryans, is that good college players will have a far more difficult time breaking into the professional ranks with fewer slots available for lower ranked players.

While singles players offer greater marquee value, they aren't necessarily better doubles players than their "specialist" colleagues. Mauresmo has a record of 1-3 playing with two French partners this year. Roger Federer, the No. 1-ranked singles player for three years now, is a pedestrian 2-4. Playing with Stanislas Wawrinka in Rome, he lost to the team of Carlos Moya -- and No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal.

In the first round of the men's doubles, the U.S. pair of Amer Delic and Bobby Reynolds, ranked No. 67 and No. 141, respectively, in singles, played Marcos Baghdatis (No. 16) and Wawrinka (No. 43). The Americans won in four sets. The highest singles ranking among the top 10 players in doubles is Samantha Stosur's No. 28. On the men's side, it's Jonas Bjorkman's No. 70

The players say doubles benefits the singles game.

"It's like practicing, competing at the same time, getting extra practice," said Serena Williams. "Maybe my volleys will be like unbelievable soon.

"It definitely helps our returns and serves, and volleys, obviously. What I enjoy most about playing doubles is just being out there with V because we just laugh and talk, just gossip the whole time, really."

Said Carillo, "I've been saying for years that they should be playing. It sharpens everything. The serve. The volleys. Thinking aggressively. There's not another team in the draw that has this kind of firepower."

"I'm excited because she's the ultimate doubles partner," said Venus. "I know that if I have my worst day, she can hold the team up. She feels the same way. One of us is going to make it happen, or both of us at the same time."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.