The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York; simultaneously, the PTPA also submitted complaints to the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, and the Competition Markets Authority in London in the United Kingdom.
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association has filed an antitrust lawsuit against men’s and women’s tours, the International Tennis Federation, and the sport’s integrity agency.
According to National Public Radio, the Association claims that the organizations that manage tennis at the international level have “complete control over the players’ pay and working conditions.” Furthermore, the lawsuit says that the structure of these organizations constitutes “textbook violations of state and federal law” that “immunize professional tennis from ordinary market forces and deny professional tennis players and other industry participants their right to fair competition.”
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association is seeking a jury trial and, ultimately, a decision that would afford athletes the opportunity to increase their earnings. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say that, with current policies in place, professional events are easily able to “cap the prize money tournaments award and limit players’ ability to earn money off the court.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York; simultaneously, the PTPA also submitted complaints to the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, and the Competition Markets Authority in London in the United Kingdom.
“There is a complete and utter lack of competition that exists in professional tennis, and we believe by filing these actions, we will ultimately inject the kind of competition that will be fair to the players, to the fans, and actually to the people [who] operate the system,” said attorney Jim Quinn, who is representing the PTPA.
“It’s going to require a restructuring,” he said.
Both the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour have since issued statements pledging to “vigorously” defend themselves against the Professional Tennis Players’ Association’s claim.
The WTA Tour, for its part, said that it has “committed to a $400 million increase in player compensation” in recent years; it called the PTPA lawsuit a “baseless legal case” that is “regrettable and misguided.” The ATP Tour, similarly, said that it recently authorized its own “major increase in player compensation,” constituting an increase of about “$70 million in the past five years.”
“The PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress,” the ATP said in a statement. “Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising.”
The PTPA notes National Public Radio, was founded in August 2020 by 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, largely with the intent of representing professional tennis players working as independent contractors. One of the organization’s stated goals is to eventually serve as a union, which would negotiate collective bargaining agreement akin to those found in major team sports.
Sources
Djokovic-led tennis players’ union files lawsuit against professional tours
Professional players’ group likens tennis organizers to a ‘cartel’ in its lawsuit
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