Novak Djokovic’s players’ union files lawsuit against tennis bodies for ‘unfair’ pay limit
The PTPA says it has been forced to take legal action to end ‘monopolistic control’ of the sport
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies on Tuesday, accusing them of anticompetitive practices and a disregard for player welfare.
The PTPA, an independent players’ union co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019, said 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).
“Tennis is broken,” Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA, 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.
“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.