Jamie Murray criticizes pay reduction for Roland Garros doubles events

Jamie Murray has criticized the French tennis federation's (FFT) decision to slash doubles prize money at Roland Garros at a greater percentage than singles winnings, saying the tournament is taking decisions too much on its own.

Murray accused organizers of having a "'we don’t give a ” mentality" in reducing doubles compensation by 23 percent, while also calling out the FFT for ''twice moving their event dates to suit themselves."

The 2020 edition of Roland Garros was postponed by four months, and shifted back by a week this season to avoid some of the effects of government coronavirus restrictions, creating scheduling chaos for the tour.

The FFT has also reduced prize money by around 10 percent, but at different levels across the competition. The singles champion will receive 1.4 million Euros, down 12.5 percent, but first-round prize levels are unchanged at 60,000 Euros. In doubles, winning teams will receive 244,295 instead of 319,652 Euros, while the first-round sum is 11,500 instead of 14,950 Euros.

On social media, Murray also criticized the quality of the hotel for doubles players and said they were only allowed to bring one team member to the event, compared to two for singles players. The tournament was not "actively supporting all players across the tour," he indicated.

Murray, a former member of the ATP player council, is a former doubles No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam doubles champion. Next week, the 35-year-old from Great Britain will play with Bruno Soares at Roland Garros. They are No. 8 in the doubles team rankings.