Sean Sorensen pays tribute to his late friend and former team-mate Matt Doyle, who inspired Ireland to the top tier of the Davis Cup in the early 1980s.
Matt Doyle was cool. Tall, muscular and handsome, he was a talented Californian who lit up Irish tennis and changed it, immeasurably, for the better.
To me, he was a friend, a team-mate, and a tennis partner, but most of all, he was an inspiration.
When he arrived on the Irish tennis scene in the early 80s, he inspired us. He challenged our view of ourselves and our sport in this country, and he inspired us to believe we had the right to be confident, and to compete on the world stage.
I met Matt first in the late 70s when we were both playing college tennis in the States, he in Yale, me in Texas. We were friendly, and chatted a bit about Ireland when our paths crossed. But it was only after a Harvard and Yale tennis team trip to Wimbledon and Fitzwilliam that he really began to consider playing for us. I loved the idea of course and was thrilled when he procured a passport and qualified for the national team.
His impact was immediate – and not just on our results. He also impacted our attitude and even our way of thinking about how best to practice.
Matt had a great serve. It was his biggest strength, and it was the part of his game which he practiced most. I found that fascinating – we had always concentrated in practice sessions on our weaknesses. But rather than just do that, Matt would also spend hours making his signature strength even stronger. So many times when a session was over, he would stay out on court for another hour, serving – over and over again.
Those hours stood to him. Even in a tense match he would be confident he could rely on his big serve, and on his day, it helped to make him a player who could intimidate and mix it with the very best in the world.
And of course we did mix it with the very best in the world when we played against the United States in the RDS in the 1983 Davis Cup.
What an occasion that was, meeting up with John McEnroe and Peter Fleming. It was a huge thrill for me. But Matt didn’t find it in the least intimidating and he took great pleasure in towering over, and beating, Eliot Teltsher in the opening match.
Imagine, Ireland tied at one-all at the end of the first day’s play, after I had done my best to keep John McEnroe on court for a while. No wonder Irish tennis fans thought he was the greatest!
As for me, I just loved being on the court with a partner with such presence, power, talent and reach. It was a privilege.
He brought us a lot of success. We won Kings Cup matches, Davis Cup matches, brought Italy to the final rubber in a Davis cup encounter which led to that famous match against the USA and through it all, we were great friends and team-mates.
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Matt Doyle, Sean Sorensen and Ireland team captain Michael Hickey after beating Switzerland in 1982 to qualify for the top tier of the Davis Cup
On court, he was utterly determined and professional. Off court, he was clever, witty, interested in world affairs (always chasing down a copy of the Wall Street Journal in the days when it had to be found in physical form) and utterly loyal to his adopted country.
Indeed, after he finished on the circuit, on which he had achieved very considerable success, he settled here, and by the time he passed away earlier this month, he had probably lived in Ireland for a good deal more than half his life.
He continued to contribute to tennis too. He was our national coach for some time, and even coached one of the great Swedish players, Mats Wilander, at a time when Mats won the US Open final against Ivan Lendl, and became World No 1.
His insight, dry wit and personality also delighted Irish sports fans for many more years when he took up commentary. Working with RTE, he did golf commentary too, returning to a sport he had loved as a teen, and one for which he had also been offered a scholarship at Yale.
Given that choice, between tennis and golf, by one of the world’s best universities, the clever, talented Californian had chosen tennis.
Weren’t we lucky he did?
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