Wimbledon champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool have accused the ATP Tour of trying to push doubles specialists out of the sport altogether, warning that a set of proposed reforms would strip away livelihoods just months after the British pair lifted their first Grand Slam trophy together at last year's Wimbledon. Cash and Glasspool are part of a wider group of leading doubles players who say the men's tour is attempting to "end doubles as a viable profession."
"It's annoying we have to deal with or even think about things like this during Wimbledon," Glasspool said. "I'm not sure what they're hoping to achieve out of it."
Smaller draws, far fewer places
Under the plans put to players, ATP 1000 events would cut their doubles fields down to just 16 teams, while the smaller tournaments on the tour would be limited to eight teams. For players who currently make a living travelling the circuit in doubles, that would mean dramatically fewer entry points into the biggest events and, by extension, far fewer paydays across a full season. There are also concerns from tournament organisers that the current scale of doubles draws puts extra strain on player facilities.
Prize money shifting toward singles
The proposals would also see the share of prize money set aside for doubles fall from 20% to 10%, with the difference redistributed to singles players. The gap in earnings between the two disciplines is already stark. At the season's first Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, Jannik Sinner collected $1.151m (£860,000) for winning the singles title, while Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard took home $234,000 (£175,000) each for their doubles triumph.
"We shouldn't be devalued"
British former world number one Neal Skupski says the anger among doubles players is rooted in how hard they work for comparatively little recognition. "We understand where we are in the sport but I don't think we should be devalued," Skupski said. "Some people don't appreciate how much effort we put in day in, day out to this sport. It's not like we just turn up to tournaments, have a giggle and go on to the next tournament."
No future outside the top 30
Doubles players argue the cuts would effectively end the careers of anyone ranked outside the world's top 30, since there simply would not be enough places left in the smaller draws for them to compete. The ATP presented its plans directly to players at a meeting at the All England Club, where Italy's Andrea Vavassori and El Salvador's Marcelo Arevalo spoke on behalf of the doubles group. "It is just a proposal, of course," said two-time French Open champion Arevalo. "But it should be a time to give more opportunities to tennis players rather than giving them away." An ATP spokesperson said: "We are assessing the doubles product, draw sizes and player compensation distribution with the aim of creating a more sustainable long-term model while maintaining doubles' important role on the tour."
Is a 20% share too generous?
Elsewhere in the sport, plenty believe a 20% cut of prize money for doubles is disproportionate to how much interest the discipline actually generates. Skupski, the reigning Australian Open champion, accepts that doubles matches on the ATP Tour rarely fill stadiums, and that singles remains the format that pulls in the crowds, whether fans are watching in person or following from further afield. Even so, the doubles players believe the tour should be doing far more to promote their side of the sport and build genuine interest in it, rather than simply cutting it back.
"Set up to protect players, not kill parts of the sport"
"We're all members of the ATP, we all pay membership and the reason it was set up was to protect players," Cash said. "It's not to try and kill parts of the sport." The doubles players point to the discipline's history, first introduced at Wimbledon back in 1884, as reason enough for it to be treated with more respect. They also note that doubles is the format most club-level players actually play themselves, which they believe makes it more relatable to a wider audience than elite singles.
"It's not a product issue"
Cash and Glasspool, who are jointly ranked sixth in the world, believe the tour's real problem is marketing, particularly on social media, rather than any lack of appeal in doubles itself. "They say it is a product issue but when singles players, who are known and have been marketed, step on the doubles court it is a packed crowd," said the 32-year-old Glasspool. "So it's not a product issue is it? If you know the players then you will watch them in singles or doubles."
Frustration over being kept in the dark
Skupski, who won the Wimbledon men's doubles title in 2023 alongside the Netherlands' Wesley Koolhof, is now ranked world number five and says much of the players' frustration stems from not being consulted before the proposal was drawn up. The 36-year-old wants the ATP to be "more open" but does not believe any form of protest would help the players' cause. Glasspool goes further, claiming the governing body has been reluctant to sit down with the group at all to discuss the issue. "They just say nothing valuable comes out of it because you guys are angry," he said. "We're like 'we are angry because you're taking our jobs away, what do you want us to do?' We've worked hard for 20 years to be in this position."
Waiting on the biggest names
Cash and Glasspool are hoping some of the sport's leading players will speak out publicly and put pressure on the ATP Tour to abandon the cutbacks. "I think the timing of the proposals is smart. They know the top players are going to help us but they are least likely to do it during a Slam because everyone is focused on the biggest tournaments," Glasspool said. Cash pointed to a precedent from more than a decade ago: "I think Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer] stepped in when there was a similar situation in about 2011 and that was the end of the discussions."
Women's doubles unaffected for now
On the women's side, the WTA Tour currently has no plans to make similar changes to women's doubles events.
