Novak Djokovic is immediately leaving the PTPA, the players’ association that he co-founded in 2019. “My decision stems from ongoing concerns around transparency, governance and the way my voice and image have been represented,” the twenty-four-time Grand Slam winner wrote on social media. The players’ association has lost its best-known and most influential member.
Djokovic and Canadian doubles specialist Vasek Pospisil founded the Professional Tennis Players Association seven years ago because they felt that the interests of tennis players were not being adequately represented. At the time, both were on the players’ council of the ATP, the organization responsible for professional men’s tennis. This council includes not only players, but also representatives of the ATP tournaments, who have their own interests. According to Djokovic, this construction means that players have too little influence and an independent players’ association is necessary to really change anything.
It was clear to him that something had to change. The two main issues he and the PTPA have spoken out about in recent years have been the long tennis season and player pay, which is lower than in other sports. According to The Athletic the percentage of global tennis turnover that goes to tennis players is approximately 15 percent – compared to around 50 percent in, for example, the NBA (basketball) or the NFL (American football). The tennis season is becoming longer and fuller rather than shorter: tennis is played from January to November, with little room for rest between tournaments.
It is unclear exactly who the PTPA represents; the association does not maintain a public list of players who have joined it. Djokovic’s players’ association could count on support from several former players and players from the global top 30, such as Mats Wilander, John Isner and Ons Jabeur, who is also part of the association’s first ‘executive committee’. But Djokovic’s biggest and most influential rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, have been critical of his initiative in the past.
Yet much of the criticism from the players’ association is widely shared. For example, six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek regularly expresses her dissatisfaction with the long, intense season, as do the male number one in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, and his biggest rival Jannik Sinner. And almost the entire global top ten of both men and women signed a letter to the Grand Slam tournaments to argue for more prize money.
Hostile attitude
So why is the 38-year-old Serbian now leaving his own union? First of all, the decision did not come completely out of the blue. There had been a clear estrangement between Djokovic and the PTPA for some time. Although he still supported the organization’s main goals, his discomfort grew with the increasingly militant attitude the association was taking towards the ATP.
That discomfort became public view when the PTPA filed a lawsuit last March against several tennis governing bodies, including the ATP and the WTA (the ATP’s counterpart in women’s tennis), alleging “systematic abuse, anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare that has persisted for decades.” The indictment contained the names of twelve tennis players, including Australian Nick Kyrgios and Chinese Saisai Zheng, then number 55 in the world in doubles. But Novak Djokovic’s name was missing.
PTPA director Ahmad Nassar spoke to the BBC at the time of a “joint decision” to prevent Djokovic’s involvement from attracting all the attention. Djokovic himself also said it was time for other players to take responsibility. The Serb had previously expressed his dissatisfaction with the passive attitude of many of his colleagues.
“I support the players,” he said two days before last year’s US Open. “But when the players had to be active and negotiations took place and decisions were made, they did not participate sufficiently.”
That, it turned out, was not his only reason for not wanting to sign the complaint. During a tournament in Miami, shortly after the PTPA news broke, he indicated that he disagreed with everything in the indictment. He also expressed his doubts about the strong wording. Ten months later the doubts appear to be too great.
“It has become clear that my values and approach no longer match the current direction of the organization,” he writes on social media. “I will continue to contribute to the sport in ways that reflect my principles and integrity. For me, this chapter is now closed.”
The journalistic principles of NRC