Mumbai: Simmering fissures in the tennis world have been cracked wide open with a lawsuit filed by the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA), co-founded by Novak Djokovic, against the various governing bodies of the sport which they accuse of running professional tennis as a “cartel”.
Facing heat over the perceived preferential treatment to world No.1 Jannik Sinner in his doping saga, the ATP (it runs the men’s tour) has now been taken to court alongside the WTA (women’s tour), ITF (International Tennis Federation) and ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) over various governance issues. The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Tuesday with a dozen current and former players as plaintiffs, also mentions the four Grand Slam organisers as “co-conspirators”.
The PTPA, a players’ association founded in 2020 by 24-time Slam champion Djokovic and former top-25 Canadian player Vasek Pospisil, claims to have spoken to more than 250 men’s and women’s players, “including a majority of the top 20 players”, who offered their support.
“For too long, players have been forced to accept a broken system that ignores our well-being, undervalues our contributions, and leaves us without real representation,” Pospisil, who is also one of the plaintiffs, wrote on X.
The issues brought up in the 163-page lawsuit are varied, ranging from limiting player compensation, restricting a free market of tournaments and earnings, and “unsustainable” scheduling. It also mentions the ITIA being “arbitrary and selective”; pointing to Sinner being let off without a lengthy ban after testing positive.
Player compensation
The lawsuit mentions that the tours “split less than 20% of their revenue with players”. It also highlights the cap on prize money from tournaments which, although the tours and Slams increase frequently, comes with a cap. As an example, the lawsuit brought up an instance in 2012 when billionaire Larry Ellison, who owns BNP Paribas Open, sought to increase the tournament prize pool above the permissible amount of the tours. The proposal was rejected.
No free market
The PTPA also accuses the bodies of colluding to restrict opportunities for players to play and earn beyond the tours — in terms of unsanctioned tournaments, exhibitions and restricting sponsorship deals with only select companies for their racquets, bags and apparel.
“If Louis Vuitton or Gucci, for example, offered a player a lucrative endorsement deal to arrive at center court at Indian Wells carrying a racket bag bearing their logo, the player would have to reject the offer,” the lawsuit states.
Scheduling concerns
The packed calendar, with over 50 tournaments in the season on the ATP and WTA tour and a greater volume on the second-rung Challenger and ITF level, is an issue that many players have publicly spoken about. Top players have to turn up for mandatory events, while the lesser-ranked players are compelled to grind week in and week out on the lower levels to barely be able to sustain a livelihood.
The lawsuit highlights the fines for player pullouts (“the Tour permits players to withdraw from tournaments only twice per season before they are fined”) and the rankings system (Iga Swiatek, for example, was replaced by Aryna Sabalenka as No.1 while she missed three tournaments last year). “A player’s ranking is not determined solely by his or her on-court performance at Tour events, but also by how often the player agrees to play,” the lawsuit states.
‘Selective’ Sinner case
The lawsuit also targetted the ITIA, tennis’ anti-doping and anti-corruption unit, for its “heavy-handed approach” towards dealing with players and certain cases. It also, however, brought out the “arbitrary and selective” way that Sinner, the Italian world No.1, escaped a lengthy ban after testing positive twice last year.
“There was no investigation that dragged for over a year into a prominent player who had not vocalized any issues with the cartel,” the lawsuit reads.
All the bodies named issued statements on Wednesday rejecting PTPA’s claims.
