Henry Patten has a point to prove on the Wimbledon grass courts and is certainly entertaining as he took three sets to progress to the quarter-finals in the men’s doubles.
Manningtree’s Patten, 30, and Finnish partner Harri Heliövaara, 37, defeated Czech duo Adam Pavlásek and Patrik Rikl 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) on the All England Club’s Court No. 2. The world No. 1 doubles pair were 4-1 down in the final set but managed to recover to pull through in the tie-break and secure their spot in the last eight.
“That was a great example of what doubles can be. It’s a great crowd on a big court at Wimbledon,” said Heliövaara.
“We played while no singles matches were happening, so we probably got some TV time and that’s exactly what doubles needs to be.
“There were fast points, great reactions, great drama. What more do you ask?”
Their participation in Patten’s home Grand Slam, which they won in 2024, comes at the same time as the ATP Tour have informed doubles players of their intention to halve the doubles draws in 2028, causing significant job losses.
The ATP plan to cut the Masters 1000 doubles field from 32 to 16 pairs and the 500 and 250 events from 16 to eight as part of a wider structural review aimed at future-proofing the Tour.
It puts both Patten and Heliövaara’s future careers at risk, and they were only informed of the proposed changes a day before their first-round match.
Now, with the ATP player liaison officer having left Wimbledon, Patten just wants to be able to be consulted on changes that will affect his future.
“I would like there to be dialogue. I wish that these decisions would not be made behind closed doors and then presented to players,” he said.
“I wish that they would proactively seek to communicate with the doubles players, as well as the top singles players and everyone.
“The player council system is ineffective, and the doubles players are very outnumbered. It just hasn’t been a successful mechanism for producing any change or increasing communication.”
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk.
