The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), founded in 2021 by Serbian Novak Djokovic and Canadian Vasek Pospisil, announced that it has initiated legal action against the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Unit, which oversees anti-doping rules.
The lawsuit names 12 former and current players, including Novak Djokovic, Vasek Pospisil and Nick Kyrgios, along with the Professional Tennis Players Association. The goal of the lawsuit is to provide professional tennis players with greater support and protection, the organization said.
“After years of good faith efforts to reform professional tennis, the Tennis Professionals Association has taken decisive legal action. Today, we, together with more than a dozen professional tennis players and on behalf of all players, and the renowned international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, have initiated a series of legal actions in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union against the governing bodies of our sport – the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency. The lawsuits will expose systemic abuses, anti-competitive practices and a clear disregard for the welfare of players that have continued for decades,” the association, represented by Djokovic and Pospisil”, says a statement from the PTPA. “Among the complaints the Tennis Professionals Association has made are the suppression of competition between tournaments, which the plaintiffs say reduces prize money, a draconian scoring system, an unsustainable schedule and financial exploitation of players. The association accuses tennis’ governing bodies of neglecting the well-being of players, forcing athletes to compete late at night and in extreme heat. The anti-doping rules are a direct invasion of players’ privacy”, the association added.
“This is not about money, it’s about justice, safety and preserving human dignity”, said Vasek Pospisil, a former Wimbledon doubles champion. “I consider myself one of the successful players, and yet even I, at the beginning of my career, had to sleep in my car while playing tournaments. Imagine telling an NFL player, for example, that he has to sleep in his car on away games? That is absurd and will never happen. There is no other sport, other than tennis, where players are treated this way. Governing bodies force us to sign unfair contracts, impose unworkable schedules on us, and punish us when we complain. We all deserve a sport that operates in a fair and just manner”, added the Canadian.
