The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and 22 players filed multiple lawsuits in several global jurisdictions against the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation (ITF) and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on Tuesday, alleging anti-competitive business practices, and alleging professional tennis monopoly and systemic abuse.
“Tennis is broken,” PTPA executive director Ahmadnassar said in a statement. “Behind the attractive veneer promoted by the defendants, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits talent, suppresses income, and puts health and safety at risk.”
Legal action has been taken in the UK, the European Union and the US District Courts.
The 12 players, including PTPA co-founder and 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil, 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, four-time ATP Tour champion Reilly Opelka and two major quarterfinalist Sorana Cirstea, are named plaintiffs in the US filing. Ten more players are involved in the other two suits, including American doubles specialist Christian Harrison, four-time WTA doubles champion Ingrid Neal and current World No. 76 Corentin Muto.
Pospisil, who launched the PTPA in 2020 along with 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, began discussing such actions last year, saying he felt that the Governing Body of the sport was not taking players’ complaints seriously or quite unresponsive.
“At one point, we felt like we had no other options,” Pospisil told ESPN on Friday. “We didn’t set out to create player associations to avoid impacting any major changes. It’s always a goal from the start and you have to really consider all the strategies and paths to achieve that goal in the end.”
In a 162-page complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the draft was obtained by ESPN. PTPA and associated players will work together as “cartels” in which ATP, WTA, ITF and ITIA collaborate with each other, in some cases reducing competition and modifying prize money.
Additionally, the lawsuit argues that by not allowing some tournament owners to request an increase in prize money, organizations will curb players’ income and have a lower percentage of revenue sharing compared to forced names, image and likeness (nil) transactions, and other professional sports. There have also been argued that infringement of privacy rights, particularly in relation to drug testing, and disregarding players’ well-being due to the long term of the season and inadequate matches and tournament conditions.
A civil complaint requires a ju trial.
In a statement Tuesday, Pospisil argued that the lawsuit was “not just money,” but instead about “fairness, security and basic human dignity.”
“I’m one of the lucky players, and when I traveled to games early in my career, I still had to sleep in my car. Imagine being told that an NFL player must sleep in his car in an away game,” Pozil said. “It’s ridiculous and it’s never going to happen. Clearly.
Nassar, who previously worked with the NFL Players Association, said PTPA initially hired law firms for Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
The PTPA then met with over 250 players to discuss the findings and next steps. According to Nassar and Pospisil, the vast majority supported filing legal claims. Pospisil said he spoke to more than 100 players individually on the phone, but he said he personally tried to recruit players to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
“The main concern was ‘what will this impact be, especially the impact from the ATP and WTA?’,” Pospisil said. “A lot of people didn’t want to put their names there, so they wanted to be careful and make a mistake.”
ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA are not yet published.
Nassar said the PTPA hopes such legal action will be improved and bring about an optimized schedule, earning more money for players through commercialization and increased revenue sharing, focusing on player concerns.