Giving up on his dream as a singles player, Raven Klaasen has found his niche as a doubles star in men’s professional tennis.
Klaasen’s first major breakthrough came at the 2014 Australian Open, finishing runner-up with former American partner Eric Butorac.
And 18 months into his new partnership with Rajeev Ram, the pair have found a symbiotic balance that could see them claim their first Grand Slam
title.
Narrowly missing out on the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals title on their debut is a good omen ahead of the Australian Open only six weeks away.
“We have to be better on Sundays; this year we only won two out of six finals and we have four titles altogether. We have been playing well enough to win but the bigger tournaments are now where we have to start making our mark,” Klaassen said.
“The end of the year was very good for us, it kind of gave us a bit of momentum going into the off-season. We didn’t have a great US Open tournament but to finish on a high like this and kick-start things in Australia bodes well.”
Klaasen’s season culminated in their superb run at the end-of year World Tour Finals where they lost to Finland’s Henri Kontinen and Australia’s John Peers 2-6, 6-1, 10-8.
While the 2014 Australian Open final was a breakthrough year for Klaasen, he has found a level of consistency required to be elevated to the top ranking.
“When I look back on this year, three big weeks obviously stand out - the final we made in Miami at the start of the year was good, we played really well that week,” Klaasen said.
“The semi-final in Wimbledon was one that is uniquely special because that is my favourite tournament and it was really nice to play on the main court.
“The World Finals were spectacular. To do that at that event was really special, so those three truly stand out.”
When his body started breaking down and some introspection about where his career was going, Klaasen played his final singles match on the ATP World Tour in 2012 with doubles offering him the option to continue his career as a professional tennis player.
“I made the decision about five years ago that I'd stop playing singles and one of the biggest regrets is that I never quite reached the heights I wanted to in singles.
“After giving it a go for so many years I kind of felt I was going to extend my career.
“So it was going to be in the doubles game.
“I got to about 200 in singles which is not terrible but it is not good enough to sustain a living playing professional tennis.”
The enormous success in doubles over the last few years had Klaasen questioning whether he should not have done the transition sooner.
He reached a career high doubles ranking of ninth in July while the South African-American combination moved up one spot to sixth place on the world team rankings.
“You kind of think back ‘maybe I should have changed over a bit sooner’.
“But at the same time I
don’t have any regrets about singles as I really wasn’t good in that format of that game,” he said.
“All of us, when you start out you don’t envision yourself being a great doubles player, you start out with the idea of holding up the Wimbledon or US Open trophy in singles.
“That is why we start playing the sport and fortunately there is a doubles platform that gives me a glorious opportunity to have some success and extend my career.”