LONDON (AP) — Doubles icons Bob and Mike Bryan say the ATP Tour should be expanding opportunities in the discipline instead of pushing for a reduction that they argue will cost jobs for young players.
The identical twins, who were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame last year, responded to the ATP's proposal on Tuesday ahead of playing in the invitational doubles event at Wimbledon.
The men's tour wants to reduce prize money and tournament sizes for doubles starting in 2028. The proposal would give doubles players just 10% of the prize money at tournaments — down from 20% — while cutting the size of the doubles fields in half.
“If it passes, this will kill the doubles dream for any young players or college players that want to pursue doubles,” Bob Bryan said. “The pathway will be blocked to come up and make a living.
“The tour, from a financial standpoint, it looks like it’s the healthiest it’s ever been. They should be creating more opportunities for doubles players.”
Together, the 48-year-old brothers won 119 ATP titles, including 16 Grand Slams, and an Olympic gold medal. At their induction ceremony in 2025, Martina Navratilova credited the brothers for keeping the doubles disciplines from being forgotten.
Jamie Murray, a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, said the tour underestimates the popularity of doubles.
“The ATP really has done like zero in terms of marketing that side of the sport over the years,” said Murray, the older brother of Andy Murray.
A big gap in prize money also leads to pullouts from doubles, he added.
“If you are playing a match for 20 grand but the next day you’ve got a singles for 300 (thousand), of course you are going to put your efforts into that," Murray said. “They play until it becomes an inconvenience for them, and then they pull out, which I understand because it's set up that way. I don't think it's right. They could improve that a lot. The scheduling of a lot of the doubles matches is poor.”
Earlier, the ATP said it was “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.” It added that changing the doubles model could help increase early round singles prize money.
The proposal does not affect Grand Slam tournaments. In 2023, Wimbledon joined the other Grand Slam tournaments in shortening matches from five to three sets.
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