Novak Djokovic has lower ties with the Skilled Tennis Gamers Affiliation, the gamers’ union he co-founded, saying “it has turn out to be clear that my values and method are now not aligned with the present route of the group.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion launched the breakaway group alongside Canadian participant Vasek Pospisil in 2021. They mentioned they have been aiming to supply illustration for gamers who’re impartial contractors in a largely particular person sport.
One of many targets made clear alongside the way in which was to turn out to be a kind of full-fledged union that negotiates collective bargaining agreements like people who exist in staff sports activities, though that kind of factor hasn’t occurred.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, mentioned Sunday on X that he had “ongoing issues relating to transparency, governance, and the way in which my voice and picture have been represented.”
The PTPA filed a class-action lawsuit in March in opposition to the ladies’s and males’s excursions, the Worldwide Tennis Federation and the game’s integrity company, accusing the organizations of “systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for participant welfare.” The 4 Grand Slam tournaments have been later added as defendants.
Djokovic was not listed as a plaintiff when the go well with was filed; Pospisil, who’s now retired, and different gamers have been.
That is as a result of, Djokovic mentioned in March, “I would like different gamers to step up.”
The lawsuit says gamers ought to acquire entry to extra earnings, arguing that the governing our bodies that oversee the 4 Grand Slam tournaments — Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open and the Australian Open — and different skilled occasions “cap the prize cash tournaments award and restrict gamers’ capacity to earn cash off the court docket.”
Djokovic mentioned Sunday he “will proceed to concentrate on my tennis, my household, and contributing to the game in ways in which mirror my rules and integrity. I want the gamers and people concerned the very best as they transfer ahead, however for me, this chapter is now closed.”
