After Carlos Alcaraz's Monte-Carlo victory, Grand Slam-winning coach blasts lack of doubles coverage
British coach Calvin Betton has criticized the lack of coverage of doubles tennis. Tennis TV posted heavily about Carlos Alcaraz's singles win but ignored the Monte Carlo final in social media posts. Betton coaches two players ranked in the doubles top 100, Luke Johnson and Henry Patten. Patten is a two-time Major doubles champion, winning Wimbledon in 2024 and this year's Australian Open title.
Betton was absorbed by the Monte Carlo Open doubles final, in which unseeded Romain Arneodo and Manuel Guinard defeated seventh seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool. The final was particularly momentous because Arneodo became the first Monegasque champion in the tournament's history. The wild cards saved two championship points on route to their 1-6, 7-6(8), 10-8 victory.
Betton slammed Tennis TV for its excessive posting about Alcaraz while ignoring Arneodo and Guinard's achievement. He shared his view on X (formerly Twitter), posting:
"Sunday: Number of Tennis TV posts about Carlos Alcaraz winning Monte Carlo: 17. Number of Tennis TV posts of Carlos Alcaraz diving into a swimming pool: 1. Number of Tennis TV posts about golf: 1. Number of Tennis TV posts about a home team winning Monte Carlo doubles: 0"
Incredibly, Monte Carlo was only the second tour-level event Arneodo and Guinard had played together. Arneodo had reached the final before with Sam Weissborn but came up short in 2023.
Attention given to Carlos Alcaraz's win could support John McEnroe's assertion about doubles
John McEnroe, a top doubles player in his own right, suggested ten years ago that doubles was in decline, and even suggested that it should be removed from the Tour. He told Telegraph.co.uk:
“Why we are even playing doubles at this point is a mystery to me. I love doubles, but I don’t even recognise what this is. They play an inch from the net. It is like wham, bam, thank you ma’am. If you cut out doubles and gave that money to singles players ranked between 200 and 1,000, maybe that would do something for the game. Most doubles players today are slow-footed guys who aren’t good enough to play singles.”
However, while Tennis TV might have ignored the doubles final, the ATP Tour did not, posting their tribute on X to the duo, and highlighting Arneodo's history-making win:
"HOME HISTORY! Arneodo is the 1st Monegasque player EVER to win a title in Monte-Carlo"
Despite McEnroe's misgivings, Monte Carlo's doubles final was an engrossing affair and was played in front of a lively crowd on Court Rainier III. After Alcaraz's singles final was cut short due to Lorenzo Musetti's thigh injury, the Monte Carlo crowd was energized by their home-grown player's achievement.