Tennis-Djokovic, Jabeur join other top players in first PTPA leadership group

Written by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Amy Tennery

MELBOURNE/NEW YORK (Reuters) Novak Djokovic, Tunisian world number one Ons Jabeur and six other top players will form the first executive committee of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) as it battles for a seat at the table with the sport’s governing bodies. .

The committee, which will be announced before next week’s Australian Open, also includes founder Vasek Pospisil, Poland’s world No. 11 Hubert Hurkacz, Americans John Isner and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Spain’s Paula Badosa and China’s Zheng Saisai.

It’s a critical advance for a player base that has divided the tennis world and pits powerhouse Djokovic against the sport’s old arch, accelerating plans to carve out a real seat at the negotiating table.

All the signs are there now that this is a huge moment for our sport,” Canadian Pospisil told Reuters.

Every player we have there is so respected, well-liked, intelligent. They are going to be a huge asset and were very lucky to have them join.

It’s been more than two years since Serbia’s Djokovic and Pospisil sent shockwaves through tennis when they resigned from the ATP Players Council and announced their departure from the group.

The ATP, which runs the men’s tour, and several players on the move, as well as the sport’s governing bodies, have yet to publicly embrace the idea.

Djokovic said the PTPA could run alongside the ATP, which was founded by players in 1972 but now has a board that includes equal representation for tournament owners.

“I finally understood why they would want to maintain the status quo,” Pospisil said. (But) I think it’s only fair and right that the players have their association just like most other sports do.

INDEPENDENT APPLICANTS

Player associations are nothing new in professional sports. But unlike the National Football League and National Basketball Association, where players participate in unions, tennis players operate as independent contractors.

Djokovic told reporters last week in Adelaide that he hoped more players would realize the PTPA’s potential, adding that the association must live on.

Executive Director Ahmad Nassar said one key challenge has been getting people to understand what the PTPA is.

It is an advocacy group for tennis players. Okay, cool story. But then what? What does that mean? he told Reuters. I think we have to answer that.

That response is a set of guiding principles expected to be unveiled on Wednesday, covering topics ranging from players’ welfare to their right to organize.

The tension between the PTPA and the sportsman’s old guard comes amid a bitter split in golf, where the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Tour lured top talent from the longtime PGA Tour, sparking a legal battle and a war of words.

Nassar added that while the PTPA was not interested in establishing the LIV Tour of tennis itself, it would be willing to discuss any proposal that would increase player income if approached.

Anyone who was interested in making sure players are compensated more fairly and more players can make a living playing the sport they love could be engaged on Wednesday.

The executive committee meets at a crucial time for the PTPA, which launched its for-profit division in August.

Nassar said an annual budget of $5 million to $10 million is needed to work with athletes around the world, though it has no immediate plans to charge fees.

It’s important to us, you know, even $50 or $100 (fees) that we can’t really show it. Hey, we exist to benefit the professional tennis player, men and women, and to prove it, prove it, he said.

And then, if it makes sense at some point later to be able to charge fees, maybe we’ll do that.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Shrivathsa Sridhar; Editing by Ken Ferris)