Money, "draconian point system", and violations of privacy: the reasons tennis players are at war with ATP and WTA

The Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA), an organisation founded by tennis players Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2019, hoping to better represent players' interests, issued a lawsuit on Tuesday against the four main governing bodies on tennis worldwide: ATP Tour (men's), WTA Tour (women's), ITF (International Tennis Federation), and ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency, which was put into question due to the perceived "favouritism" regarding Jannik Sinner's positive case).

The PTPA accused them of anti-competitive practices, a monopolistic control that disregarded their welfare, describing them as a "cartel" that "systemically abuse, silence, and exploit players to drive personal profits" and claiming their practices are illegal and corrupt. With the help of an international lawyer firm, they sued the four governing bodies in the US, the UK, and Europe.

"Layers are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety", said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA, who adds that they have the support from the "overwhelming majority of the top 250+ men's and women's players including a majority of the Top 20 players".

Obviously, their main is request is more money: they claim that top tennis players earn a fraction of what top athletes in other sports earn, paid only a 17% or revenues from competitions, with the defendants entering into agreements to suppress competitions, capping prize money and limiting players' ability to earn money off the court.

Against a "draconian" ranking points system

The PTPA also takes aim at the "draconian" Ranking Points system, which dictates which tournaments players must compete in. In short, the ranking system means players have no freedom to compete on "alternative events that could exist in a free market", forcing them to compete only on the defendants' official competitions, or they would loose ranking points that would make them earn less money and lose sponsorship opportunities.

They also feel they are being exploited financially, signing their name, image and likeness for no compensation, reducing their earnings as they can't secure independent sponsorships nor negotiate for better working conditions.

Player's health and privacy are threatened, PTPA claim

The calendar, with 11 months and matches in the six continents, leaving little time to recover, is also criticised, as well as the conditions of some games: playing under 100-degree heat, matches that ended at 3 AM and even playing with injury-inducing tennis balls.

Finally, they complain about numerous violations of privacy, which include "invasive searches of personal devices, random middle-of-the-night drug tests, interrogations without legal representation, and the confiscation of players' phones without consent. And, once again, they aim specifically to the ITIA, saying they have suspended players "without due process based on flimsy or fabricated evidence".

Those are the reasons PTPA has made this lawsuit, with the end goal of earning a similar status, rights and treatment as players in other athletes. However, ATP believes is "without merit" as they have introduced reforms that benefit players, and questions PTPA's ability to "establish a meaningful role in tennis" since it was created five years ago.