More than 150 doubles players on the men’s ATP tour have signed an open letter addressed to the ATP board and management imploring the men’s tennis governing bodies to reconsider its controversial doubles reforms and “protect” the doubles format in professional tennis.
The subject of potential reforms to the ATP have been a significant issue since players were informed in a meeting during Wimbledon that the ATP was conducting a review of its doubles regulations and potential changes could see doubles draws being halved at the ATP events in 2028. Under these proposals, ATP Masters 1000 events would host only 16 doubles teams and the main draws at ATP 500 and 250 events would accommodate only eight teams.
The proposals could also see the total prize money distributed to doubles players halved from 20% to 10%, with the remaining money allocated towards singles players. The news provoked significant criticism from a large group of doubles players at Wimbledon, and they have spent subsequent months organising to resist the reforms. In addition to over 150 active players, the letter has been signed by over 20 national federations and former legends of the sport.
In the open letter, the players state: “The current plans would shift about $20m (£15m) in prize money from doubles to singles, while cutting a significant number of professional opportunities for doubles specialists. That shift would make it much harder for talented players to build and sustain a doubles career. A healthy professional sport cannot rely solely on a small group of top stars; it needs pathways for players to develop, compete and earn a living.”
Sem Verbeek, the 2025 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion and one of the players spearheading the campaign, told the Guardian that the doubles players feel the ATP’s potential reforms threaten the future of doubles and that the ATP has not sought to collaborate with doubles players to shape the future of the discipline.
“The A to B with these proposals is really threatening not only the history, but also the present and future of the whole discipline of professional men’s doubles,” he said.
“The livelihoods of a lot of players are at stake here, and not only that, I think also the dreams of any young player that wants to pursue a doubles career are really in big jeopardy. I think that one of the big reasons that we have so much support for this open letter is to really provide the ATP with a platform to get in touch with us and make this more of a collaboration rather than a one-sided review that they keep saying is ongoing. But any real data and real numbers and real requests that we have have not been answered so far. And I think that’s why a lot of active players are so frustrated with this because we have a lot of ideas.”
The ATP management views doubles as an unsustainable loss leader, and it intends to redistribute some of the money currently reserved for doubles to singles players, an initiative doubles players believe pits singles and doubles players against each other despite the fact that they are all members of the same association.
“The main message that we want to send is the ATP really has to balance short-term economic growth with the legacy that it has built. We understand that the ATP and tennis as a whole is entertainment is a business but you also have a responsibility to all of your fans worldwide to protect and grow the legacy of both disciplines of your sport,” said Verbeek
“It’s been clear so far I think for a lot of people, if you look at how inaccessible doubles is from a viewership standpoint, that the ATP has under-invested and under-marketed the discipline so far. So we really just want to invite the ATP to really meaningful collaborations and meaningful discussions on how we can grow this part of the sport without damaging the future of it and allowing people to have a celebratory career in doubles. And I think that’s part of the reason that so many legends have signed on.
“For some reason the generation of decision makers that are in the ATP right now feel like a doubles career is not a real tennis career. And that to us is ludicrous. It should be celebrated. It’s a discipline that has provided a lot of history and should provide a lot of future and it shouldn’t be looked at as, let’s say, a failed singles career or something like that.”
Earlier this month, the ATP announced widespread reforms to the calendar, schedule and rulebook. In a Q&A attributed to the ATP chief executive, Andrea Gaudenzi, on the ATP website, the men’s tennis governing body addressed its potential doubles reforms: “Doubles will continue to be a core part of the ATP Tour,” Gaudenzi wrote. “The review is focused on identifying a model that gives the discipline a sustainable long-term future, works effectively for tournaments and fans and supports the wider player pathway.”
