By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
Harrison Brown and George Davis had met before, sort of, but it was six years ago on opposite sides of the net. Aside from that, they were complete strangers last fall when William & Mary coach Jeff Kader paired them as doubles partners.
 
One of two things would happen, Kader figured, and either would be a positive.
 
"Both were very good doubles players, and sometimes that clicks," he said. "Other times, we might split them up so we have a solid player at the No. 1 and 2 teams. We put them together in the fall to see how it would go, and they just meshed.
 
"Their games complement each other very, very well. They both know where to move, and right off the bat, they knew what each other would be doing. It was pretty easy for me to see they were going to have success."
 
Going into the CAA Men's Tennis Championships, which begin Friday in Elon, N.C., Brown and Davis are 17-5 overall, 11-4 at the No. 1 spot. They haven't lost since Feb. 16.
 
Brown, a 6-foot-3 Australian, can hit 130 miles per hour on his serve. Davis, from London, is a strong returner with cat-like reflexes at the net. Together, they're a tough combination.
 
"We're similar in how we're doubles oriented when we're on the court," said Brown, a graduate transfer from Michigan. "A lot of tennis players play doubles with a singles mindset. But you can play doubles with a doubles mindset and use your touch and feel instead of hitting it as hard as you can.
 
"George and I, the chemistry works well because we're able to hit very good volleys. He has better returns, but I have a better serve. It works well in unison together."
 
The first time they were on the same court together was in 2016 at a doubles tournament in the Dominican Republic. Davis is reluctant to report that Brown and his partner won in three sets.
 
"This big, tall Australian," Davis said of his memories from that match.
 
The first time they played together was at the Richmond Spider Invitational on the second weekend of October. Brown and Davis won all three matches. In the dual season, the Tribe is 9-2 in matches that Brown and Davis won at No. 1 doubles.
 
"We had a good fall season and got to the (ITA Atlantic) Super Regionals," said Davis, who has won five matches at No. 1 singles. "But we play a lot more matches during the spring, and that's when it started to click. Especially in the last two months.
 
"We know each other very well and we don't have to talk all the time about why we're doing such things. We know what we're doing and when we're doing it."
 
Brown, a first-year MBA candidate in the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, is from Brisbane but has been in the U.S. since he was 15. After playing at Bishops Gate Tennis Academy in Florida and Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in South Carolina, he signed with Michigan.
 
In four seasons with the Wolverines, he played mostly doubles with a record of 45-31.
 
"Ann Arbor was a lot of fun," Brown said. "The student-athlete base is huge, so I made a lot of good friends there. The downside is that it's friggin' freezing there."
 
Davis came to the Altitude Academy in Port Saint Lucie, Fla., when he was 12 years old. He's been in the U.S. so long that his family and friends back home tease him about his "American accent."
 
In his freshman season at W&M, Davis led the team at 14-8 in singles and 14-7 in doubles. That was before things ended prematurely because of the pandemic. In the abbreviated 2020-21 season, he was 8-5 in singles and teamed with Brenden Volk for an 8-5 record at No. 1 doubles, earning All-CAA First Team honors.
 
"I've always liked that there's no room for error in doubles," Davis said. "It's more refined, more fine-tuned. There's a lot more repetition and discipline involved.
 
"I've always enjoyed it because I've always liked volleying. It's the fast-pace thing of it, and there's no let-up."
 
William & Mary will be going after its first CAA Championship since 2015. The Tribe looked to have a strong chance in 2020, but the tournament was canceled due to COVID. Playing at home in last year's event, the Tribe lost to UNCW 4-3 in the final.
 
As one of four grad students on the roster, Brown knows this is his last chance.
 
"When I was at Michigan, we never won the Big Ten title," he said. "We made the semifinals pretty much every year and we shared the regular season with Ohio State once, but we didn't get any ring or any recognition for that.
 
"We're the 1 seed and have a bye in the first round, which means we don't have to play on Friday. That's huge, because having to play three days in a row to win the whole thing is pretty tough on the body. I'm very optimistic about it."