ATP pro agrees with Novak Djokovic’s verdict on controversial PTPA lawsuit against tennis bodies
Novak Djokovic agreed and disagreed with the class-action lawsuit filed by the PTPA, the players' union he founded with Vasek Pospisil.
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Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Wolfy)
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) created quite a stir in the tennis world by taking legal action against the ATP, WTA, ITF, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The PTPA was founded by 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2020.
The Canadian was one of the 12 current and former players listed as plaintiffs along with the PTPA in the lawsuit. Djokovic, however, wasn’t part of the lawsuit. When he was asked to comment on it, the Serb said that he doesn’t agree with certain parts of the lawsuit. The Serb wants the tennis bodies to provide financial security to lower-ranked players so that they don’t quit tennis.
He also found “some wording was quite strong in there“. Christopher Eubanks too is of the same opinion. The American tennis ace revealed how he reacted when he read the lawsuit for the first time.
My first reaction when I began reading through the lawsuit was similar to Novak, the language was a bit strong. I think Novak has a similar quote and I completely agree with it, I was like, ‘Man this is some really strong language’. Then when I continued to read through it, I felt torn, as there were some good points being made I felt. I kind of agreed with. But I also thought there were some points which I thought were a bit misleading.
Christopher Eubanks said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast
The PTPA criticized the 11-month tennis schedule, ranking system, and tennis bodies’ control over players’ image rights, and alleged that the ITIA have been invading players’ privacy. They also want improvement in the revenue system and they claimed that the tennis bodies have been restricting tournaments from offering more prize money to the players.
Jon Wertheim explains why he thinks Novak Djokovic-led PTPA’s lawsuit is problematic
The PTPA have claimed that before filing the lawsuit, they consulted many players across ATP and WTA. They stated that many top 250 players, including some from the top 20 backed them. Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim criticized PTPA’s failure to involve the top players, including the fact that Novak Djokovic refrained from being a part of the lawsuit.
The fact that the guy who co-founded the organization that has lodged this suit does not feel comfortable putting his name on the lawsuit, that’s problematic.
Jon Wertheim said on Served with Andy Roddick podcast
The players in the top have been complaining about the hectic schedule and the constant ball change in the tournaments. At the ongoing Miami Open, when Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Coco Gauff were asked about the lawsuit, they denied knowing about it beforehand.
Andy Roddick urges ATP to change schedule
Andy Roddick has time and again complained about the ATP schedule on his podcast. He has made some suggestions to reduce the calendar so that players don’t have to be on the move for 11 long months. During his podcast, while discussing the PTPA lawsuit, the 2003 US Open champion slammed the ATP for their promise to shorten the calendar but never working on it.
You have to buy back a lot of the 250s, You have to work backward from September after the US Open. Find a way to trim 4 weeks. That’s the ideal scenario.
Andy Roddick said
In Men’s tennis, among the top players, Carlos Alcaraz has been quite vocal about the schedule. In the ATP Tour, players there are eight Masters 1000 and 16 ATP 500 events. Then there are also the four Grand Slam events and the ATP Finals.
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