Novak Djokovic’s PTPA Union Throws The Book At Tennis Tours

It’s the second part of the Sunshine Double this week at the Miami Open, but a dark cloud is hovering over the tennis world right now. The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA), an independent players union co-founded by Novak Djokovic, has launched a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies accusing them of abusing their power and acting like a “cartel.”

On March 18, the 163-page document was filed in New York, Brussels and London against the two main tours, the ATP and WTA, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).

The PTPA was founded in 2020 in an effort to increase the power of the players and reduce the influence of the tennis authorities. Tensions have been building over the last five years as the union has kept vocal while trying to measure the player temperature for change. The first signs that a legal challenge was afoot came in the fall when its Executive Director Ahmad Nassar called for a “full, top-to-bottom physical” of the sport.

Building up a head of steam, the PTPA released a statement in mid-February critical of how Jannik Sinner’s three-month doping suspension was handled. Their release cited “the lack of credibility in the alphabet soup of agencies charged with regulating our sports and athletes.” Now the PTPA is throwing the book at those agencies on several counts.

“Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety,” claimed Nassar.

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The complaint was filed in the US district court of New York, with 12 current and former players as plaintiffs, including the co-founder of the PTPA, Vasek Pospisil, Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka and the Romanian former U.S. Open quarter-finalist Sorana Cirstea. The PTPA insisted it was acting “on behalf of the entire player population.”

The allegations range from the systematic limitation on earning potential, unduly blocking extra earning opportunities off the court, and a “draconian” ranking system that ties individuals to the mast of the main tour. Other cited issues call out an unsustainable schedule, exposing players to unsafe conditions, image rights violations and invasions of privacy.

The ATP weas swift to release a statement on the lawsuit which produced counter arguments to the above, but was very specific in targeting what it sees as the constant bad faith approach of the PTPA. “While (the) ATP has remained focused on delivering reforms that benefit players at multiple levels, the PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress. Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising.”

The ATP suggested that the action brought was “entirely without merit” so battle lines have been drawn. The WTA also released a statement, replicating the main men’s tour wording of “vigorously" defending its position while spelling out how their governance had increased player benefits, compensation, pay equality and player input into how the tour is run.

“Contesting this baseless legal case will divert time, attention and resources from our core mission to the detriment of our players and the sport as a whole,” insisted the WTA.

In May 2023, the PTPA wrote an open letter directed at all WTA and ATP players to challenge the notion that it generates division. The tennis structure is a fragmented one with four separate Grand Slams, the men’s tour, the women’s tour and the ITF. The four majors didn’t escape the wrath of the lawsuit lexicon as Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the French Open and U.S. Open were also accused of profiting “at the players’ expense, to the detriment of fans and the game.”

"We’re the only sport in the world that doesn’t have a players’ association," Kyrgios told Sky Sports. It has long been Djokovic and Pospisil’s stated aim to represent players in the same way that, say, the NBPA can act in working out a higher split of revenue for and many other labor practices.

The PTPA has consistently denied it is trying to create an alternative rival tour along the lines of the LIV Golf breakaway in 2022. It remains to be seen whether there can be a settlement that stops an acrimonious battle through the courts.

"Tennis is broken,” said Nassar. It’s not Mutiny on the Bounty- Carlos Alcaraz has spoken out against the proceedings already - but there are rumblings that could make the game’s future navigation very tricky.