LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Doubles players have reacted angrily to suggestions that the ATP Tour plans to reduce the size of draws and prize money at tournaments with British player Julian Cash accusing the organisation of trying to kill off part of the sport.
Under plans discussed this week, doubles draws at ATP 1000 events would be halved to 16 pairs with only eight pairs competing at the smaller tournaments on the men's tour.
Prize money could also fall from 20% to 10% of the total pot with singles
players likely to benefit.
"We're all members of the ATP, we all pay membership and the reason it was set up was to protect players," said Cash, who won the Wimbledon doubles title last year with Lloyd Glasspool.
"It's not to try and kill parts of the sport."
Glasspool told the BBC it was "annoying" that the doubles players were having to deal with the situation during Wimbledon, adding that the ATP should do more to promote doubles.
"I'm not sure what they're hoping to achieve out of it," he said. "They say it is a product issue but when singles players -- who are known and have been marketed -- step on the doubles court it is a packed crowd.
"So it's not a product issue is it? If you know the players then you will watch them in singles or doubles."
Apart from at the Grand Slams and the Olympic Games, doubles receives far less attention than singles. Few top singles players these days commit to playing doubles, although there are exceptions such as Serena and Venus Williams who have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon.
A statement issued on behalf of the doubles players this week accused the ATP of trying to end doubles as a "viable profession, dressed up as a cost-saving measure".
Responding to the concerns of the players, the ATP issued a statement on Friday.
"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," it said.
The men's and women's doubles winners at this year's Wimbledon will receive 760,000 pounds ($1 million) per pair, compared to the 3.6 million pounds for the singles champions.
"We understand where we are in the sport but I don't think we should be devalued," British former world number one Neal Skupski told the BBC. "It's not like we just turn up to tournaments, have a giggle and go on to the next tournament."
Asked whether he had sympathy for doubles players, Australian Alex de Minaur said it was 'all about the numbers' after he reached the singles fourth round on Saturday.
"I know a lot of these players, they train, they put in the hours, they do all the training that any other player does," he told reporters.
"It's obviously not nice to see, but it all comes down to probably numbers. "I'm assuming that if these decisions have been made, it's for a reason."
($1 = 0.7490 pounds)
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
