Reilly Opelka has a low opinion of doubles players (Image: Getty)
Men’s tennis player Reilly Opelka has brutally hit out at doubles stars after the ATP Tour announced plans to cut their prize money and draw sizes at tournaments. The tour proposed changes in a meeting at Wimbledon on Tuesday, which could include halving the size of doubles draws from 2028.
It would mean only 16 teams could compete at ATP Masters 1000 events, and just eight at the smaller tournaments on tour in the men’s game. The percentage of prize money devoted to doubles players could also fall from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, with the money redistributed to singles players.
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And world No.115 Opelka, who withdrew from Wimbledon this year but is usually a regular fixture at the tournament, has now hit out at doubles players in a brutal statement on social media – naming only three stars who are not “the problem”. He said: “The problem isn’t doubles… it’s the doubles players – aside from [Marcel] Granollers, [Horacio] Zeballos and [Edouard] Vasselin.”
He went further in his assessment of the discipline’s appeal, linking its visibility directly to perceived quality. The four-time ATP Tour titleist said: “It’s not rocket science… nobody watches because they lack talent.”
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British doubles player and former Wimbledon doubles champion Henry Patten was among those to hit back. The 30-year-old posted a picture of one of Opelka’s matches with a sparsely attended crowd.
The American hit headlines in 2025 for his controversial comments about doubles, claiming there was no such thing as doubles specialists – only “failed singles players”. The 28-year-old has also claimed that if he were in charge of the game, he would scrap doubles.
After countryman Taylor Fritz expressed his support for the new mixed doubles format at the US Open, Opelka took to Instagram and jokingly wrote: “Disrespectful towards doubles specialists.. let’s cancel this guy @taylor_fritz”.
When a user questioned Opelka on his stance, the big-serving American replied: “I was being sarcastic they should 100% get rid of dubs. It’s for failed singles players, there’s no such thing as a ‘doubles specialist’. They don’t sell a single ticket, they take up practice courts/physios/resources, they don’t turn a profit, they complain that they don’t make enough $$. That’s pretty greedy behaviour if you ask me.”
Former Wimbledon champion Henry Patten (right) has hit back at Opelka (Image: Getty)
A group of leading doubles players have hit back at the ATP Tour’s plans to change their profession. In a statement, they said: “Doubles isn’t a carnival sideshow. It is one of the most successful parts of tennis – integral to the amateur game – with the potential to do so much more.
“Yet the impact of the ATP’s proposals will be to diminish the sporting excellence that is professional doubles and turn off the pipeline of pro doubles players and the entire infrastructure that supports them. Doubles is not an afterthought we fell into. It has always been part of this sport’s identity, not a discount version of it.”
World No.1 singles player Jannik Sinner received $1.151m (£860,000) for winning the title at Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 event of the year, in March. Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard won $234,000 (£175,000) each for winning the doubles.
Doubles players argue the changes mean there would be no future for those ranked outside the world’s top 30.
The statement added: “Do the maths on what that means for anyone outside the top 30: it will be impossible to make a living. This is not a minor adjustment.
“It is a plan to end doubles as a viable profession, dressed up as a cost-saving measure – and it is being pushed through with almost no transparency and almost no consultation with the players whose careers and livelihoods are on the line.”
Responding to the statement, an ATP spokesperson said: “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.”