‘Group Djokovic’ files suit against tennis organisers
Miami Gardens: Calling the groups in charge of professional tennis “a cartel,” the players’ association co-founded by Novak Djokovic filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women’s and men’s tours, the International Tennis Federation and the sport’s integrity agency in federal court in New York.
The suit by the Professional Tennis Players’ Association says the organizations that run the sport hold “complete control over the players’ pay and working conditions” and their setup constitutes “textbook violations of state and federal law” that “immunize professional tennis from ordinary market forces and deny professional tennis players and other industry participants their right to fair competition.” The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and wants players to gain access to more earnings, arguing that the governing bodies that oversee the four Grand Slam tournaments — Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open — and other professional events “cap the prize money tournaments award and limit players’ ability to earn money off the court.”
On top of the case in U.S. District Court, the PTPA made filings with the European Commission in Brussels and the Competition Markets Authority in London. “There is a complete and utter lack of competition that exists in professional tennis, and we believe by filing these actions, we will ultimately inject the kind of competition that will be fair to the players, to the fans and actually to the people (who) operate the system,” said Jim Quinn, a lawyer working with the PTPA. “It’s going to require a restructuring,” Quinn said. The WTA Tour and ATP Tour issued separate statements Tuesday saying they would “vigorously” defend themselves. The WTA said it has “committed to a $400 million increase in player compensation” in recent years and labeled the PTPA action a “baseless legal case” that is “regrettable and misguided.”
The ATP touted a “major increase in player compensation” that created a jump of “$70 million in the past five years,” and called the PTPA’s case “entirely without merit.” “The PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress,” the ATP’s statement said.
