MIAMI GARDONS, Fla. — Novak Djokovic doesn’t want an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Association of Players, who co-founded to create a tennis rift, but he said Thursday that both athletes’ revenue and their impacts need to increase.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion, speaking at a press conference before the tournament at the Miami Open, explained that he was not listed among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in New York.
The lawsuit by the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) against the Women and Men’s Tour, the International Tennis Federation and Sports Integrity Agency said the organization “has full control over the wages and working conditions of players and calls it a ‘cartel’.
“I’ve been a fan and not a supporter of our sport’s division, but I’ve always fought for better representation, influence and positioning of players worldwide in our sport. I don’t think that’s where I think it should be,” Djokovic said, as most players are stated in that document, not just in terms of prize money, but many other points.”
PTPA said it spoke to more than 250 players, female and male, and supported it for the class action lawsuit. Players named in the US lawsuit include 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, Solana Chilsteer, Barbara Gracheva, Riley Opelka, Tenny Sandgren and Nicole Merricher Martinez.
But four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz said he’s not a fan at the Miami Open on Wednesday – because he was quoted in the submission and it wasn’t said it was happening and he didn’t agree with everything his lawyers said.
Djokovic repeated those final feelings.
“I really hope that all the governing bodies, including the PTPA, come together to solve these issues,” he said. “This is a classic case, so it’s the kind of situation in the case, so I’m very frank with you, sometimes I agree to the case, and sometimes I don’t agree.