Novak Djokovic admits he disagrees with parts of a lawsuit filed by an association he helped create and he also has reservations about the language used.
The 24-time Grand Slam addressed reporters in Miami on Thursday for the first time since the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) filed its legal complaints across three countries. In the antitrust lawsuit filed in New York, the PTPA has accused tennis’ governing bodies of ‘anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare.’ In a 163-page legal document, they have expressed concerns about anti-competitive practices, prize money, ranking points, the tennis schedule, player welfare and anti-doping/anti-corruption investigations.
“This is a classic lawsuit, so lawyers to lawyers type of situations,” Djokovic told reporters in his pre-tournament press conference at the Miami Open.
“So to be quite frank with you, there are things that I agree with in the lawsuit and there are also things that I don’t agree with.
“I found that maybe some wording was quite strong in there. But I guess the legal team knows what they’re doing and what kind of terminology they’re supposed to use in order to get the right effect,” he added.
Djokovic co-founded the PTPA in 2019 alongside Vasek Pospisil with the aim of trying to get players to have a greater say in the decision-making processes of the sport. Its CEO is Ahmad Nassar and there is also an executive committee of players which includes Ons Jabeur and Hubert Hurkacz.
In the legal document, the names of 12 players were listed as plaintiffs, but Djokovic was not on the list. He says part of his decision not to be named was to encourage other top players to speak out about the matter and avoid him being the main figure in the case when it should be about all players.
“In general, I felt like I don’t need to sign the letter because I want other players to step up. I’ve been very active in tennis politics,” Djokovic commented.
“I’ve tried to do my very best during my very active career when I was playing the most matches in my career and didn’t have so much time and energy.
“But nevertheless, I felt that it’s also my responsibility in my role to try to use the influence and the role to support players and to fight for their rights and it’s been almost 20 years that I’ve been on the tour.”
“I’ve seen some changes, but you know there’s some fundamental changes there are still yet to be made and I really hope that all the governing bodies including PTPA will come together and solve these issues.”
Gauff, Sabalenka calls for greater share of earnings
Two of the biggest names in women’s tennis – Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff – confirmed they haven’t looked at the PTPA lawsuit in detail. Gauff says she was only made aware of the filing when it became public. However, the two tennis stars are in agreement about one specific area.
“For me, I guess the biggest thing would be more of a percentage of the revenue in prize money.” Tennis majors quoted Gauff as saying.
Meanwhile, world No.1 Sabalenka voiced similar comments when speaking to reporters.
“Something I would like to see is not only WTA players, but all of the players getting probably more percentage they’re making out of the tournaments, the slams especially,” she said.
“I think that’s fair enough and if we look at other sports, I think the percentage goes completely differently. That’s the only wish I have.”
It is estimated that players received 15-20% of the revenue generated at Grand Slam events.
SEE ALSO: – EXCLUSIVE: PTPA’s Ahmad Nassar – ‘Tennis Thinks It Can Operate Above The Law’
