Earlier in the season, when Ball State defeated then-No. 55 Indiana for the first time in 10 years, there was a critical point in the match when all three of Ball State's doubles teams were down 4-3. The Cardinals recovered and went on to win 4-3, with the doubles point being the deciding factor.
After the match, men's tennis coach Bill Richards said one of the main reasons his team was able to pick up momentum was the doubles tandem of Paul Newman and Klint Knable.
Newman and Knable were the first team to earn a service break, and when they did, they burst out with energy.
"They're both very spirited players in singles and doubles, and that is vitally important in doubles when you're just playing eight-game pro sets," Richards said.
Richards believes this carried over to the top team of Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson and allowed the Cardinals to take the doubles point.
Newman and Knable are the emotional and verbal catalysts on an otherwise-silent Ball State team. While the rest of the doubles teams are silent, take-care-of-buisness players, Newman and Knable know their job on the court is to be loud and verbal and to provide an energy that can carry over to their teammates.
"We take it -- last year and this year -- upon ourselves to get the team fired up," Newman said. "We love playing like that; we love being intense. It helps us; it suits us well, and it helps the rest of the team."
Newman and Knable took different roads to get to Ball State. Knable came from Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, while Newman transferred to Ball State after Louisiana-Monroe dropped its program. He originally came from Pretoria, South Africa where he was the top-ranked tennis player in his age bracket.
In the fall of 2003, when both Newman and Knable were juniors, Richards teamed them up in doubles. The success was almost immediate as, in their first year, they posted a 22-6 record and went through the Mid-American Conference season without a loss.
"It was kind of a funny situation, actually," Knable said. "Last year, we started out playing together in doubles at the beginning of the year. None of the teams were really working, so we were just trying things out.
"We weren't [Richards'] first pick but we brought a lot of intensity, a lot of enthusiasm, so I think that's the main thing. We play well together."
"For the most part, we're both really intense," Newman added. "We lift each other up, which helps the rest of the team get fired up and get the rest of the team going, so I think it's very much our attitudes, our will to win [rather] than how we play."
Newman and Knable aren't just a team on the doubles court; they also spend a lot of time together outside of the tennis court.
"When we go out, usually we go out together," Knable said.
"Klint's a pretty easy guy to get along with," Newman added. "He's a fun guy and all that stuff. We like girls a lot, and we like tennis a little."
This year is Newman and Knable's final year at Ball State. However, they almost were not a doubles team this year.
"I wasn't positive going into this year that they were going to be a team," Richards said, not specifying why. "They started out that way, and they have given me no reason to think otherwise."
In fact, outside of tournaments, the duo has not dropped more than three doubles matches, but they each have winning records in singles as well. In doubles, though, they've become the team you can pencil in for a win on most occasions.
"It's a lot of responsibility, but it's nice to have," Newman said "It's a lot of pressure, but it kind of helps as well. When you feel like you should win, then that motivates you that much more to go out there and win."
Newman and Knable have a 14-3 record so far this season in dual matches and have helped Ball State have an excellent record in doubles.
"It's more than the technical parts of the game," Richards said. "It's more than the fundamentals. It's more than the serve-and-volley and returns.
"I think it's their emotional connection and both being such great competitors. They really feed off each other and they're just a tough team to beat."
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