LONDON — The new crisis facing doubles has revived its biggest hater: Reilly Opelka.
The 28-year-old, a former world number 17 in singles and currently ranked 115th, has picked a fresh fight with doubles players across the net.
“The problem isn’t the doubles, it’s the doubles players, aside Marcel Granollers, Horacio Zeballos and Edouard Roger-Vasselin,” the North American wrote on social media.
“It’s not rocket science.. nobody watches because they lack talent,” added the four-time ATP champion.
The ATP is planning a sweeping restructure of the doubles tour: cutting prize money and halving the draws at tournaments. The plans, which could be implemented in 2028, were informally communicated to doubles players at Wimbledon. In London, around 50 specialists gathered and issued a statement to defend themselves against the potential changes.
“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,” the statement said.
Those defending doubles launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #savedoubles.
British player Henry Patten, the world number one in doubles, responded to the North American with an image of the Indian Wells centre court almost empty during one of Opelka’s matches. He wrote, ironically: #saveopelka.
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Some doubles players expressed their frustration in conversation with CLAY.
“Tennis is living its best moment, financially spectacular. It surprises me that there’s a proposal to put so many colleagues’ careers at risk right now, in times of such prosperity. Several could lose their jobs,” said Salvadoran Marcelo Arévalo, a member of the ATP Player Council and one of the first to receive the unwelcome news.
“It makes no sense. Hopefully dialogue can be opened with the tournaments as well to find real solutions,” said Mexican Miguel Reyes-Varela.
Opelka became the number one enemy of the doubles circuit when in 2025 he shared a pointed opinion on Instagram.
“They should 100% get rid of doubles. 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, and they complain that they don’t make enough money. That’s pretty greedy behavior if you ask me.”
Another singles player to speak dismissively about doubles is Alexandre Bublik.
In an interview with Bounces, also published on CLAY, the Kazakh spoke bluntly against doubles and doubles players, in his trademark mocking tone.
“Sometimes doubles bores you, because in a way it’s not real tennis. It’s for those who can’t play singles: they play doubles and then move on to padel or pickleball,” he said.
Bublik played the Roland Garros 2021 doubles final: “I’m a Grand Slam finalist and so what? I don’t even know where that trophy is. It’s useless.”
Arévalo, a former world number one in doubles, is confident singles players will back them as they face a bleak outlook: “I want to believe that they will understand, and they will give us the support, because doubles is just part of the history of tennis. It’s not like something that started, like, five years ago.”
