Legal Battle in Professional Tennis: PTPA vs. Sports Organizations
In a significant move, the professional tennis circuits and two co-defendants jointly filed a motion in a federal court in New York. The aim is to dismiss the antitrust class action lawsuit filed by the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), co-founded by Novak Djokovic.
The PTPA, an organization seeking to represent tennis players, sued the WTA (women’s circuit), the ATP (men’s circuit), the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in March. The lawsuit accused these organizations of forming a “cartel”.
Players are seeking greater participation in the revenue generated by the sport and have raised other complaints related to the structure of tennis, including limitations on prize money and the lack of competition between circuits and tournaments.
The PTPA was established by Novak Djokovic, winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, and Vasek Pospisil, with the purpose of representing players who operate as independent contractors in a largely individual sport.
The PTPA is not a formal union, it has no members and does not charge dues
Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA
PTPA CEO Ahmad Nassar has reiterated that the association is not a full union, has no members, and does not collect dues. These points are mentioned in one of the motions filed on Tuesday as reasons to argue that the PTPA does not have standing to be a plaintiff in the case. This motion was filed by the four defendants.
A separate motion, filed solely by the WTA, argues that the male plaintiffs, including Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka, and Tennys Sandgren, should not sue the women’s circuit. Furthermore, it requests that the female plaintiffs, such as Sorana Cirstea and Varvara Gracheva, be compelled to undergo binding arbitration instead of continuing with the court case.
So far, no response has been received from the PTPA spokesperson regarding requests for comments.
