‘Potentially, we won't have a job’ - Defending Wimbledon champions say ATP plans threaten future of specialist doubles players
Defending Wimbledon doubles champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool have claimed proposed ATP Tour changes could leave them without a job.
According to the British doubles pair, the ATP plan, in 2028, to reduce the number of doubles players ‘at least by half’.
Cash, who has links to Burgess Hill and Brighton, said the plan could leave specialist doubles players without a viable career, warning that professionals are prepared to take legal action if the plans go ahead.
Cash and Glasspool were speaking, after beginning the defence of their Wimbledon title with a convincing first-round victory on Wednesday (July 1).
They claimed to have been told directly by ATP officials that the governing body wants to reduce the number of specialist doubles players on tour, with more places instead going to singles players.
"It's disappointing that in the future, potentially, we won't have a job," Glasspool said.
"Lots of other players, aspiring players, the next generation won't have a job. I think a lot of the fans love watching doubles specifically. If that gets taken away and we don't have the opportunity to come back and defend titles and play doubles, I think that would be a massive shame."
The ATP said it is reviewing the doubles format, draw sizes and player compensation with the ‘aim of creating a more sustainable long-term model’, while ‘maintaining doubles' important role on the tour’.
It said any potential changes would be developed ‘through close consultation with players, tournaments and the ATP Board’, with decisions made in the ‘best long-term interests of the sport and its consumers’.
Cash said the proposals had not yet been made public but claimed discussions had been taking place over recent months and had intensified since the French Open.
The plans, the players say, include reducing doubles draws at ATP Masters 1000, ATP 500 and ATP 250 tournaments, making entry increasingly dependent on singles rankings, and changing the prize money split between singles and doubles.
They argued the changes would effectively remove the pathway for players to build careers as doubles specialists.
"I had tons of injuries in singles and realised I could get to the top of the game in doubles, so I chose that career path," Cash, 29, said.
"You've got guys coming straight out of college who choose doubles because they see it as a career they can be successful in. Those avenues will disappear."
Cash also rejected the suggestion that elite singles players could simply replace specialist doubles competitors.
"One of the beautiful things about sport is it's purely based on results, level and merit," he said.
"This would take the best in the world at a certain craft and just give that opportunity to someone else who, essentially, if they played each other, wouldn't be as good."
Glasspool said doubles is an ‘integral part of tennis’.
He added: “Every club member plays it. There's a style of doubles that will never be seen again, a tradition of tennis that will just be broken and gone."
Cash also criticised what he described as a lack of consultation from the ATP, adding: "They keep a lot to themselves.”
He claimed doubles players were united in opposing the proposals and said many singles players also shared their concerns.
"We hope it doesn't go as far as legal action, but if it has to, then I know we're all on board to do so."
Cash said he understood the ATP hoped to make a final decision before this year's US Open.
Sussex World approached the ATP for comment on the claims and the proposals described.
A spokesperson said: “We continually review our structure, rules and processes to strengthen the tour's future development.
"As part of this process, 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.
"The review is also assessing whether changes to the doubles model could enable increased investment in early-round singles prize money, helping more players at the highest level to better meet the costs of competing on tour and build sustainable professional careers.
"Any potential changes will be developed through close consultation with players, tournaments and the ATP Board, with any decisions made in the best long-term interests of the sport and its consumers."
Cash and Glasspool won the Wimbledon men's doubles title last summer. In doing so, the pair made history, by becoming the first all-British team to win a Grand Slam men's doubles title in 89 years. Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey won at Wimbledon in 1936.