Over 150 ATP doubles players urge board to reconsider proposed reforms
More than 150 doubles players on the men’s ATP Tour have signed an open letter to the ATP board and management, published on 26 October 2026, pleading with the governing body to reconsider proposed reforms that could halve doubles draws and prize money from 2028.
Players say the proposals were first raised in a meeting during Wimbledon when the ATP informed them it was conducting a review of doubles regulations. Under the measures under consideration, 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 plans could also reduce the share of total prize money awarded to doubles from 20% to 10%, and the news provoked significant criticism from a large group of doubles players at Wimbledon who have spent subsequent months organising to resist the reforms.
In addition to over 150 active players, the open letter has been signed by over 20 national federations and former legends of the sport. The letter states: “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 potential reforms threaten 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.”
The ATP management has described doubles as an unsustainable loss leader and intends to redistribute some money currently reserved for doubles to singles players, a move doubles players say sets the two disciplines at odds despite their shared membership of the 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.
Verbeek said players want meaningful engagement with the ATP on how to develop doubles without damaging its future. “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, and in a Q&A attributed to the ATP chief executive on the ATP website Andrea Gaudenzi wrote: “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.”
Signatories say the open letter is intended to prompt the ATP into discussions and collaboration, and the ATP has said its review aims to identify a sustainable model for doubles and is ongoing.
