Players' group founded by Novak Djokovic files antitrust suit against tennis organisers

The Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA) has filed a lawsuit against the sport's governing bodies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare.

The PTPA, an independent players' union co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019, said on Tuesday that after years of good-faith efforts to reform professional tennis, it had been forced to take legal action to end "monopolistic control" of the sport.

In a statement, it said that along with more than a dozen players, the PTPA had filed papers in a New York court against the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).

Among those players with their names attached to the lawsuit is Nick Kyrgios, as well as Romania's Sorana Cîrstea, Russia-born French player Varvara Gracheva and Americans Reilly Opelka, Tennys Sandgren and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.

Djokovic is not named in the lawsuit.

PTPA executive director Ahmad Nassar said Djokovic was "certainly very involved, very up to speed. He is still a sitting member of our executive committee at the PTPA … This is about much more than one player".

Candian player Vasek Pospisil is the co-counder of the Professional Tennis Players' Association. (Getty Images: CameraSport/Alex Dodd)

"Beyond just the economics, we see … player welfare is completely disregarded in everything, from the tour schedule to anti-competitive practices, to abusing our rights around name, image, likeness," co-founder of the PTPA Vasek Pospisil, who is also listed as a plaintiff, said.

"Tennis is broken," Nassar said in a statement.

"Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings and jeopardises their health and safety.

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"We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts. Fixing these systemic failures isn't about disrupting tennis, it's about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come."

In response, the ATP accused the PTPA of choosing "division and distraction" and having no meaningful role in the sport.

"We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA's claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position," the ATP said in a statement.

"ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game — towards continued growth, financial stability and the best possible future for players, tournaments, and fans."

The WTA defended its record of growing women's tennis, describing the lawsuit as "baseless".

"Every decision taken at the WTA board level includes the input of players via their elected board representatives, and athletes receive substantial financial rewards and other benefits from participation in the WTA," the organisation said.

'Draconian' system

The PTPA said it had spoken to almost all the men's and women's top 20 players. (Getty Images: PTPA/Ilya S. Savenok)

Describing the various governing bodies as "a cartel", the PTPA, which has also begun legal action in Britain and the EU, accuses them of paying "artificially low compensation to professional tennis players" and imposing a "draconian" ranking system that forces them to compete in certain tournaments.

The lawsuit calls the schedule unsustainable, says players are made to play in extreme heat and often in the early hours of the morning, that tennis balls chosen by the tournaments are a factor in chronic injuries and that players' privacy rights are being abused by random drug tests.

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Prior to filing the lawsuit, the PTPA said it met with more than 250 players across the tours, including the majority of the men's and women's top 20.

"The overwhelmingly positive player feedback was a resounding confirmation — change is needed now, and players are united in their fight for reform," the statement said.

Serbia's 24-time grand slam champion Djokovic has been a fierce advocate for change to the organisation of tennis, insisting that the revenues generated by the sport were not fairly shared with players.

"Women and men who are around 200 and lower-ranked in the world, they are struggling a lot," he said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview in 2023.

"They can't afford a coach, they can't afford travels, they skip tournaments, many of them leave tennis who are super talented and maybe capable of reaching great heights."

The ITIA, which manages the sport's anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, responded, saying: "Any credible international sport requires robust anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, and we are proud of our role in contributing to a clean and fair sport."

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