In men’s tennis, Latin America’s clearest route to the sport’s biggest stages isn’t always singles. It’s doubles. Over the past two seasons, the region has produced a steady stream of elite doubles results: Grand Slam titles, Masters trophies, year-end No. 1 rankings and deep runs that keep Latin flags flying high into major tournaments, even as singles draws thin out.
The key takeaway for those of us in Costa Rica and Central America is that doubles success is no consolation prize. It’s a repeatable pathway — less dependent on a single transcendent junior talent, more aligned with the region’s club culture and often more achievable amid the financial realities of life on tour.
A Central American Proof-of-Concept
The clearest example is Marcelo Arévalo of El Salvador, a former ATP doubles world No. 1 who has won two Roland Garros men’s doubles titles (2022 and 2024). Arévalo’s story resonates deeply in Central America because it redefines the ceiling. He hails from a smaller market with fewer elite pathways, yet he built a career that reached the pinnacle of his discipline.
For Costa Rica, where tennis participation is strong, but the professional pipeline remains thin, Arévalo serves as the most concrete regional proof that the sport can be “won” from this corner of the world — if the pathway is chosen strategically.
Latin America’s Doubles Results Are No Fluke
This year delivered a strong South American signal. Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos captured the 2025 French Open men’s doubles title, then followed it with a 2025 US Open victory — claiming two Slam trophies in a single season. This achievement underscores the durability of top doubles teams. Doubles has its own rhythm, and for the right pairing, it can be less volatile than singles: fewer “bad matchups” over a two-week Slam, and less reliance on one player winning seven matches solo.
Why Doubles Is a Smarter Bet for Many Latin Players
For mid-tier singles pros, the math is brutal. Travel costs don’t scale down with rankings. Prize money from early rounds often fails to cover flights, hotels, coaching and physio — especially for players based far from the tour’s European and North American hubs. Doubles don’t eliminate those costs, but it shifts the equation:
- Two players share travel planning and, often, coaching logistics.
- Doubles specialists can forge careers through consistent weekly points rather than sporadic singles breakthroughs.
- The discipline rewards trainable skills: serve placement, return patterns, net instincts, communication and set plays.
That last point is crucial for Costa Rica and Central America. Doubles emphasizes dominating patterns, making sound decisions under pressure and building partnerships — less about producing a “genetic outlier” with raw power.
The ‘Club Tennis’ Connection Costa Rica Already Has
In Costa Rica, most adult tennis is doubles. That’s not a weakness; it’s a cultural edge. Players here grow up in formats that teach positioning, quick reactions, controlled aggression, teamwork and the value of holding serve while protecting margins. In essence, Costa Rica already cultivates the type of player doubles rewards — provided they gain early access to international competition to master the professional tempo.
What the Pipeline Can Look Like: Barrientos as a Working Pro Model
Not every story needs to end in a Grand Slam. Colombia’s Nicolás Barrientos offers a blueprint for a sustainable doubles career. Barrientos reached a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 47 and has thrived on the Challenger circuit while securing ATP titles, including the 2024 Rio Open with Rafael Matos.
This matters because Central America needs more than isolated “hero” tales. It requires a repeatable middle class of pros: players who can sustain tour life, win consistently and eventually penetrate bigger draws.
What a Doubles-First Central American Strategy Would Prioritize
If Costa Rica or the broader isthmus aimed to leverage doubles as the quickest route to Slam relevance, the building blocks are straightforward:
- Tournament density at home and nearby: More ITF and Challenger-level doubles events in the region to cut travel costs and boost match volume.
- Early international pairing experience: Doubles demands partnership literacy. Juniors traveling and competing together accelerate learning in communication and tactics.
- Serve and return development as a national focus: Doubles is serve-return heavy. Training should emphasize first-serve patterns, return positioning and net-first instincts.
- Partnership stability: Major-winning teams build chemistry over time. Granollers and Zeballos didn’t claim Slams by switching partners frequently.
- A realistic public narrative: If federations and sponsors view doubles as second-tier, players will too. Arévalo’s success proves otherwise.
Why This Matters Beyond Sport: Visibility, Tourism and Identity
A Latin American doubles team reaching a Slam’s final weekend keeps the region in global broadcasts. That boosts diaspora communities — Central Americans abroad seeking a rallying point and a reason to follow tennis. It also improves tourism. Tennis fans plan trips around majors, and Latin success spurs demand for clinics, academies, junior programs and “train + travel” packages. A Central American doubles star crafts a narrative linking sport to regional branding in ways singles currently doesn’t.
The Bottom Line
Singles remain tennis’s economic powerhouse, but for Latin America — and especially Central America — doubles offer the most pragmatic, proven path to sustained visibility at the elite level. Arévalo has shown the region’s potential ceiling. Granollers and Zeballos demonstrated that Latin-linked teams can dominate a Slam season.
For Costa Rica, the question isn’t whether doubles “counts.” It’s whether the region is ready to embrace it as the smartest first step.
