The world’s large tennis associations are under fire. From your own players. Is the tennis really ruled by a cartel? Are the players actually exploited? The accusations of the PTPA association are tough. Are you justified? The sports show clarifies.
Who and what is the PTPA anyway?
The “Professional Tennis Players Association” was founded in 2020 by Novak Djokovic and the former Canadian Wimbledon winner in the double Vasek Pospisil. For the top 250 players of women (WTA tour) and men (ATP tour) and the professionals among the top 100 in the double world rankings. The PTPA has set itself the goal of “effectively conveying between the interest groups in the name of the tennis players”.
How much influence does it have?
So far little. Novak Djokovic and his colleagues have always tried to get the negotiating table with the associations and the Grand Slam organizers, but so far they have not been invited to work. Within the ATP and the WTA there are also own player and player councilors, these are also occupied with top professionals. Alexander Zverev, for example, is in the ATP player council.
What about the allegation that the associations ATP, WTA and the World Association ITF would form a cartel?
The associations have to put up with the accusation not to have heard sufficiently on the players. Many of them have long been criticizing the tournament calendar, which in their view. Seven of the nine Masters tournaments were last extended from 7 to 12 days. The big dispute is also the duration of the season: eleven months. Players like Alexander Zverev or Carlos Alcaraz regularly complained about this.
Top professionals such as Zverev, Alcaraz or Iga Swiatek are obliged to beat all Grand Slams and the Masters tournaments. You have few opportunities to plan your season with breaks. If you do without these big tournaments without sufficient justification, such as an injury, you must pay punishments. Another Masters tournament in Saudi Arabia is to be built over the next few years. The burden becomes greater than less.
Don’t the associations listen to the players?
But some things have improved for professionals in recent years. The best 250 players get financial security for men. If you do not reach a certain annual income, the ATP will increase up to a maximum rate. The WTA has recently launched a fund for expectant mothers among the players who support them financially for up to twelve months.
The PTPA wants a larger “competition” among the Tournament organizers. What does this mean?
The professionals should be able to decide more freely at which tournaments they want to play. It should be possible to earn money at private show fights or invitation tournaments and also get points for the world rankings. However, there will probably be no concession on the part of the associations. The tour as we know it today would be devalued.
Do the professionals get too little of the cake?
Looks like this. This year the Australian Open distributed almost 55 million euros in the form of prize money to the players. That sounds a lot, but is actually only 15 percent of the income. The other Grand Slams also move at this level. For comparison: In the NBA, more than a third of the income is released to the players. The top 100 on the WTA and ATP tour can live well on price and sponsorship money. But it gets scarce underneath. The costs for travel, trainers etc. are so high that there is hardly anything left. Vasek Pospisil, co -founder of the PTPA: “I am one of the happier players on the tour, but I also had to sleep in my car at the beginning of my career when I traveled to tournaments.“
Are all the professionals behind this charge?
No. The first prominent opponent was Carlos Alcaraz. And Novak Djokovic, co -founder of the PTPA, has also cautioned on the edge of the Miami Open: “To be honest, there are things in the lawsuit that I support and with some things I disagree. And I found that the sound in the application was quite hard, but I assume that the lawyers know what they are doing.” So far, there have been no broad public support for the lawsuit from prominent players away from the twelve, which were listed in the application.
What’s next?
The indictment is so detailed that it will probably take several weeks for an answer from the accused parties to be expected. This discussion will certainly determine the discussion in the coming months. A result is not yet foreseeable.