Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff weigh in on PTPA lawsuit and agree on one key point
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have reacted to the Professional Tennis Players Association’s contentious decision to launch a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies.
On Tuesday, the PTPA initiated legal action against the ATP and WTA tours, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The PTPA branded the four governing bodies a “cartel” and accused them of implementing “anticompetitive restraints and abusive practices.”
The 163-page complaint was filed in the United States District Court in New York, where the PTPA is seeking a jury trial. PTPA co-founder Vasek Pospisil and Nick Kyrgios are two of 12 current or former professional players listed as plaintiffs.
The PTPA also claimed that the lawsuit has been “backed overwhelmingly by the top 250+ men’s and women’s players including a majority of the top 20 players.”
Ahmad Nassar, the Executive Director of the PTPA, said: “Tennis is broken. Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardises their health and safety.
“We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts.
“Fixing these systemic failures isn’t about disrupting tennis – it’s about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come.”
Gauff revealed she had not looked into all the details of the lawsuit, but she expressed support for players earning a higher percentage of revenue.
“I honestly don’t have a lot of information on that whole thing, to be honest,” the world No 3 explained.
“I found out when everyone else did, so I don’t have any information on it that I can share but I’m from all for trying to make the sport better, but I don’t know the details of it. I just saw it on Instagram two days ago.
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“For me, I guess the biggest thing would be more of a percentage of the revenue in prize money.
“I also can’t sit here and complain. I’m a professional athlete, I get paid pretty well to do what I love. The amount of work isn’t equal to the reward – I’m an athlete, there’s people who much harder things in this world.
“So yes, if you want to compare it to other sports, then yes, but if you want to compare it to other things in life, I’m not going to sit here and complain.”
The 2023 US Open winner added: “Obviously for the women’s side of things making as many tournaments as we can equal to the men when it comes to prize money.
“There’s a whole other thing when it comes to visibility and things like that we can also improve on.”
Sabalenka, the world No 1, made the same point as her rival.
“Something I would like to see is not only WTA players, but all of the players getting probably more percentage they’re making out of the tournaments, the Slams especially,” the Belarusian said.
“I think that’s fair enough and if we look at other sports, I think the percentage goes completely differently. That’s the only wish I have.”
The PTPA is a players’ union that was founded in 2020 by tennis legend Novak Djokovic and former Canadian pro Pospisil.
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