Henry Patten lamented that the tennis authorities see the doubles game as “a pain in the a–” after he became the first British player to win two men’s doubles titles at Wimbledon since World War Two.
Patten, who hails from Colchester, clinched a 7-6, 7-6 victory with his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara in the final to regain the title that the pair won in 2024. But Patten said that doubles remains marginalised on the professional tennis circuit. He urged the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which runs the men’s tour, to do far more to promote the format.
“If you look at, for example, the ATP Tour’s Instagram page on [doubles] semi-final day, there was no men’s singles matches that day, but there were no posts about doubles. I don’t see why that is,” Patten said.
“It’s difficult. I think it really requires a big cultural shift and a change in culture of the ATP, which is obviously a difficult thing to change in any organisation. But I just wish they had more of a growth mindset rather than seeing it purely as a pain in the a–, which is what it seems like at the moment. It’s really difficult to change that. But I feel optimistic that we will be able to change it.”
Patten said that the strong crowds throughout his campaign, which culminated with him clinching the title with an ace, showed the support that existed among tennis fans for the doubles game. He urged other tournaments to follow Wimbledon’s lead in showcasing it more prominently.
“There’s like this very strong narrative that the product itself just isn’t good enough. I don’t think that’s true. I think we’ve kind of proven that to be wrong,” he said.
“Wimbledon plays a huge part in that. People come to Wimbledon to watch tennis, whether it’s singles, doubles, wheelchair singles, wheelchair doubles, juniors, exhibition. I feel strongly that doubles can play a strong part in that and can help the ATP Tour grow the game. I think that’s what we should be focused on. No more infighting. It doesn’t help anyone.”