By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis Now| Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Picture credit score: ATP
It is On.
The Skilled Tennis Gamers Affiliation (PTPA) dropped a bombshell lawsuit in opposition to the ATP, WTA and ITF at the moment.
MORE: Djokovic-Led PTPA Recordsdata Lawsuit Towards ATP, WTA and ITF
Now, the ATP is firing again.
In a press release, the ATP blasted the PTPA claims of corruption as “solely with out advantage” and additional knocked the PTPA for attempting to draw consideration to its trigger via “division and distraction.”
“Whereas ATP has remained targeted on delivering reforms that profit gamers at a number of ranges, the PTPA has constantly chosen division and distraction via misinformation over progress,” the ATP mentioned in a press release. “5 years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to ascertain a significant position in tennis, making its resolution to pursue authorized motion at this juncture unsurprising.
“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, consider the case to be solely with out advantage, and can vigorously defend our place. ATP stays dedicated to working in the very best pursuits of the sport – in direction of continued progress, monetary stability, and the absolute best future for our gamers, tournaments, and followers.”
Led by Novak Djokovic, funding banker Invoice Ackman and Canadian Vasek Pospisil, the PTPA filed a lawsuit within the New York Federal Courtroom and the UK and European Union on Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims that the ATP, WTA, and Worldwide Tennis Federation (ITF) are actively engaged in corrupt enterprise practices that restrict gamers’ potential to earn cash and limit their skilled lives.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀.At this time, the PTPA and over a dozen gamers, on behalf of your complete skilled inhabitants, filed a sweeping sequence of authorized actions in opposition to the ATP, WTA, ITF and ITIA to reform skilled tennis. https://t.co/1r4LWQpopP
— Skilled Tennis Gamers Affiliation (@ptpaplayers) March 18, 2025
Based in 2019, the PTPA advocates that gamers ought to earn extra prize cash at numerous tournaments than they’re allowed per WTA and ATP guidelines.
Djokovic mentioned regardless of the very fact the PTPA “weren’t accepted” by the ATP, WTA and Grand Slams, the group is gaining traction and monetary backing and “must reside.”
“I believe there’s quite a lot of authorized challenges alongside the way in which,” Djokovic mentioned in a previous interview. “We managed to beat all these challenges, and we’re gathering the best staff of individuals with advisory board, individuals which can be going to assist with financing the affiliation, after all individuals from the tennis world that may assist us set up ourselves inside the ecosystem, which I believe is essential as we weren’t accepted and embraced by Grand Slams, ATP nor WTA, so it makes issues tough for us, however this affiliation must reside.”
The PTPA is important as a result of it is solely dedicated to giving gamers a voice within the decision-making course of that impacts the game, Djokovic mentioned.
“It must be there as a result of gamers do not have 100% illustration within the tennis world, sadly,” Djokovic mentioned. “With the affiliation they’ve that. Hopefully extra gamers shall be displaying the willingness to grasp what PTPA can do for them.
“It is a course of that may take an extended time simply because we aren’t getting credibility from different governing our bodies, so it is going to take longer, however we’ll keep there, and it is one thing that hopefully can keep for a lot of many years to return.”
