MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Novak Djokovic does not need the antitrust lawsuit filed by the gamers’ affiliation he co-founded to create a rift in tennis, however he additionally stated Thursday that the athletes’ share of revenues and their affect each want to extend.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion, talking at a pre-tournament information convention on the Miami Open, defined that he was not listed among the many plaintiffs on the case filed Tuesday in federal courtroom in New York — together with actions in Brussels and London — “as a result of I need different gamers to step up.”
The swimsuit by the Skilled Tennis Gamers’ Affiliation (PTPA) towards the ladies’s and males’s excursions, the Worldwide Tennis Federation and the game’s integrity company stated the organizations maintain “full management over the gamers’ pay and dealing circumstances,” calling them a “cartel.”
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“I’ve by no means been a fan and supporter of division in our sport, however I’ve at all times fought for higher illustration and affect of and positioning of the gamers globally in our sport, which I feel remains to be not the place I feel it needs to be,” Djokovic stated, “and the place many of the gamers assume it needs to be, not simply by way of prize cash, however by way of many different factors which have been additionally said in that doc.”
The PTPA stated it had spoken with greater than 250 gamers — ladies and men — and gotten backing for the category motion swimsuit. Gamers whose names are hooked up to the U.S. lawsuit embody 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, Sorana Cirstea, Varvara Gracheva, Reilly Opelka, Tennys Sandgren and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
However four-time main champion Carlos Alcaraz stated Wednesday on the Miami Open that he wasn’t a fan — partially as a result of he wasn’t conscious he could be quoted within the submitting, hadn’t been instructed it was taking place and did not agree with all the things said by the attorneys.
Djokovic echoed that final sentiment.
“I actually hope that every one the governing our bodies, together with PTPA, will come collectively and resolve these points,” he stated. “This can be a basic lawsuit, so attorneys to attorneys, kind of scenario. So to be fairly frank with you, there are issues that I agree with within the lawsuit, after which there are additionally issues that I do not agree with. And I discovered that possibly some wording was fairly robust in there, however I suppose the authorized staff is aware of what they’re doing and what sort of terminology they’re supposed to make use of in an effort to get the suitable impact.”
