He was the last of a breed - Tennis Hall of Famer Steve Flink explains why Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula cannot emulate John McEnroe s success in both singles and doubles Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Approve Reject & ban Delete Logout

He was the last of a breed - Tennis Hall of Famer Steve Flink explains why Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula cannot emulate John McEnroe s success in both singles and doubles

From L - John McEnroe, Jessica Pegula, and Coco Gauff. and have by far had the most hectic and intense campaigns on the WTA tour this season, with double duty in singles and doubles throughout the year. While they have been highly successful in both formats, racking up many more wins than losses, tennis journalist and Hall of Famer Steve Flink believes their schedule of playing singles and doubles non-stop is not sustainable in the long term and explained his reasoning behind the same. Pegula played a whopping 111 matches all season (63 in singles, 44 in doubles, and 4 in mixed doubles). Meanwhile, Coco Gauff has played as many as 104 matches this season (60 in singles, 40 in women's doubles, and 4 in mixed doubles), and that was before her participation in the ongoing . While many other players in the past have managed to have long careers while extensively competing in both singles and doubles events, Flink believes was the "last of the breed." Speaking during a recent episode of the , Flink opined that the likes of Gauff, Pegula, and others will need to be mindful of injuries and cannot emulate the McEnroe era. "That worked out for him (John McEnroe) and he managed to pull it off. He was the last of a breed there," Steve Flink said. "He was preceded by people like John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Stan Smith, and Bob Lutz, who all were great doubles players as well as standouts in singles. Those days are over." The American sports journalist went on to explain why he believes players of the current era cannot regularly keep playing singles and doubles throughout an entire season, highlighting a susceptibility to major injuries and wear and tear as the reasons behind the same. Flink feels that while Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are young, they will need to reconsider their schedules going forward and prioritize singles over doubles. "If you play that much singles and doubles, can you really keep up that pace? Are you not going to make yourself vulnerable to injuries in the years ahead? That's something that players that are that good in singles and doubles, as Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are, have to think about and the priority has to be singles," Flink added. "It may mean cutting back on some of the doubles and maybe slightly reshaping their singles schedules. You can't go on and play that many matches year in and year out without having something go wrong with your body," he continued.

Steve Flink further explains why John McEnroe stands out as a singles and doubles player compared to Coco Gauff Jessica Pegula and others

Coco Gauff (L) and Jessica Pegula at 2022 WTA Finals - Day 5. Steve Flink further shed light on John McEnroe's playing days and believes that the 's style of play allowed him to have long singles and doubles careers, which saw him win 17 Grand Slam titles - seven in singles, nine in men's doubles, and one in mixed doubles. McEnroe often chose not to practice for singles tournaments because doubles acted as a sort of practice for him, due to his similar playing style in both. That is why he could afford to play both formats back in the day, Flink suggested. "Looking back, it's remarkable. He wasn't getting hurt very much either. John, maybe because of his style of play and attacking as much as he did, short points in singles. He loved doubles and therefore didn't practice as much as the other guys might have for singles because the doubles was giving him that practice," Flink expressed. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are ranked inside the top 10 in the WTA Rankings for both singles and doubles. Gauff is No. 4 in singles and No. 7 in doubles, while Pegula is No. 3 in singles and No. 6 in doubles. Poll : Who will win the 2022 ATP finals? Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic Daniil Medvedev Stefanos Tsitsipas 1382 votes Quick Links More from Sportskeeda Thank You! Show More Comments No thanks Delete Cancel Update Reply ❮ ❯ No thanks Delete Cancel Update Reply ❮ ❯ Be the first one to comment on this story More from Sportskeeda Fetching more content... 1 Logout No Results Found