Why Is Doubles Tennis Disrespected?

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Meet our panellists:

Denmark's Davis Cup Captain and 2012 Wimbledon Doubles Champion, Freddie Nielsen - currently coaching August Holmgren, who is in the final round of qualifying as we record.
GB Coach Calvin Betton who is currently working with Henry Patten & Harri Heliövaara.
Top S&C Coach Kieron Vorster who has worked with Liam Broady, Dan Evans, Tim Henman and Wayne Ferreira.
Sports broadcaster and former CNN anchor Candy Reid, Tennessee Vols alumna and one of the great voices of tennis.

The ATP is proposing to reshape men's doubles from 2028. Halved draws. Halved prize money. Doubles specialists effectively pushed out of the sport. In this episode, Dan takes on the proposals in a full debate segment, then reviews the fortnight at Wimbledon 2026 that has just wrapped up. Recorded after the Wimbledon Live series ended.

THE MAIN DEBATE: Should the ATP be allowed to kill men's doubles?

The 2028 proposal in detail: doubles draws halved at Masters 1000s, prize money split shifted from 80-20 to 90-10 in favour of singles, Challenger Tour entry handed to singles players ahead of doubles specialists.

Our panelist discuss these proposals in depth.

In the Wimbledon 2026 Review:

Sinner defends his title, 5th career Grand Slam, only 10th man in the Open Era to defend Wimbledon
Linda Nosková becomes the youngest women's champion since Kvitova in 2011, in the first all-Czech final in the Open Era
Arthur Fery's historic wildcard SF run, the deepest British men's Wimbledon run since Cameron Norrie in 2022
Djokovic equals Federer's all-time record of 105 Wimbledon match wins
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid win their 7th Wimbledon men's wheelchair doubles title
The 3 Czech Wimbledon women's champions in the last four years: Vondrousova (2023), Krejcikova (2024), and now Nosková (2026)
The women's draw wide open: 10 different champions in 10 years, the longest streak in Wimbledon history

Timestamps

05:21 -Inside Sinner's fifth Slam: why he wins even when he's not at his best, and Vozzi breaks down his movement
09:06 - Arthur Fery's fairytale run: turning heroic losses into gritty wins, and what his future really looks like
16:36 - A new Alexander Zverev? How Roland Garros changed him, and dissecting that stunning first set of the final
22:14 - Djokovic at 39: the chase for 25, why his body can't do back-to-back matches anymore, and the Sinner semi
27:53 - Nosková's astonishing comeback from 6-2, 5-2 down, plus the truth about her "friendship" with Muchová
36:20 - The Doubles Debate Begins

About Control the Controllables

Hosted by Dan Kiernan, Director of SotoTennis Academy and coach to top ATP and WTA doubles players. Control the Controllables was voted x3 Best Tennis Podcast.