Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner 'obsession' fuels top doubles coach’s criticism of ATP’s 'pathetic' coverage & refusal of player request

Top doubles coach Calvin Betton recently slammed the ATP for being ‘obsessed’ with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Betton criticized the lack of coverage that doubles events receive in tennis, while highlighting how the organization rejected a players’ proposal aimed to grow the event’s popularity.

Betton is best known as the coach of Henry Patten and Luke Johnson. Patten is a two-time Grand Slam winner, having won both his titles under the British coach. Meanwhile, Johnson is an upcoming star, who reached a career-high ranking of World No.28 earlier this year.

Recently, Calvin Betton made an appearance on the Chip n Charge Tennis Podcast, where he highlighted the ATP’s partial coverage of singles events, including top stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, saying,

“There is zero marketing for this (doubles). Zero marketing. They're obsessed with, whenever Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner cross each other in a corridor, they'll stick a camera there and go ‘two legends meet’. This happens every week, there is no reason for you to get it on camera all the time, it's pathetic.”

Betton then revealed that the ATP had actually turned down a players’ proposal aimed at improving coverage, explaining,

“I don't know if people know this, so the doubles players have specifically asked the ATP if they can run their own Instagram account, like a doubles only Instagram account, the ATP turned it down. They wouldn't let them do it. All the doubles players had an agreement within themselves where they said, ‘top 100 we'll all stick in two grand each and we'll pay someone to run it and we'll pay for marketing’. They won't let them do it.”

Betton added that the ATP even took down a post he and Patten had made after their victory at the Paris Masters due to copyright infringement.

When Carlos Alcaraz spoke about playing doubles alongside Rafael Nadal

Alcaraz and Nadal at the 2024 Olympics (Image Source: Getty)

While Carlos Alcaraz is one of the brightest stars in the men's singles tour, the Spaniard is no stranger to the doubles event. In 2024, he paired up with the legendary Rafael Nadal at the Paris Olympics, with the duo making it to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Speaking about the experience at a press conference, Alcaraz said,

“I think we played a great tennis in doubles, even if we are not used to playing doubles very often. A little bit disappointing at the end, because we thought that we could do it better, but in general, we were happy. And obviously talking about myself, I reached my dream, my dream came true, playing doubles alongside Rafa.”

In 2025, Carlos Alcaraz returned to the doubles court, this time partnering Britain's Emma Raducanu for the mixed doubles event at the US Open.