Doubles is becoming increasingly more under threat recently, with the ATP Tour unveiling plans to cut the amount of tournaments in half.
Doubles specialist have spoken up about the matter and have suggested the format is down to a lack of marketing from the ATP Tour, rather than the popularity of doubles.
The likes of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, who won Wimbledon together in 2025, have hit back at the ATP Tour’s newest ideas.
“We’re all members of the ATP, we all pay membership and the reason it was set up was to protect players,” said Cash in an interview with BBC Sport. “It’s not to try and kill parts of the sport.”
Now, another doubles star has suggested what singles stars, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, could do to try and save doubles.
In a new interview, as shared by Tennis Temple, Sadio Doumbia explained why doubles is failing while singles action is as popular as ever.
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“Today, what sells are the great champions: Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, or the players from the host country. Location also matters, of course.People also go to Roland Garros or Wimbledon for the charm of the place, and the stands are always full.”
Doumbia believes more stars need to start playing doubles and he’s suggested Alcaraz and Sinner’s double debut would be huge news for the format.
“What generates revenue are the tournaments, and the stars. If Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz played doubles together tomorrow, everyone would go see them instead of a singles between two top 20 players,” he said.
“People would rather watch Jannik practice than a match between world No. 50 and No. 80.If tomorrow Sinner and Alcaraz played doubles together, everyone would choose to watch them rather than a singles between two top 20 players.
“We live in an era of extreme ‘starification’. People prefer watching Sinner practice rather than an official match between world No. 50 and No. 80. We are fascinated by stars. The problem is not doubles, but the lack of true superstars in this specialty.”
Doubles tends to be very popular with audiences at Grand Slams, particularly at this year’s Wimbledon, but it is at smaller events where crowds seem to dwindle.
Nevertheless, it is extremely short-sighted by the ATP Tour to cut back on doubles events, rather than try and promote them better and get them seen by a wider audience.
Promoting doubles stars and matches view their social media pages would be a terrific start, but it is certainly not time to scrap a format that has been the backbone of tennis for a very long time.
The post ATP doubles champion says what would happen if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played doubles together appeared first on Tennis365.
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