Novak Djokovic issues PTPA rallying call: ‘We are going to fight for the players’ rights’

The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) is “not going anywhere” and the time is ripe for players, especially the younger generation, to join the organisation, according to Novak Djokovic.

It is nearly three full years since Djokovic, Vasek Pospisil and John Isner dropped a bombshell on tennis as they announced on the eve of the 2020 US Open that they had broken away from the ATP Player Council to form the PTPA.

They came in for heavy criticism from big wigs Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray at the time with the trio insisting they would not join as they lamented the division it is causing in tennis.

However, the PTPA stuck to its guns insisting they ” are not forming parallel tours” and that their “goal is to try to secure support from the players”.

Membership uptake was initially slow, but earlier this year the organisation announced that WTA stars Ons Jabeur and Paula Badosa had joined its first-ever executive committee.

And in the latest video from the PTPA, 23-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic has given an update on the organisation.

“The time has been ripe for quite a while, to be honest, but in terms of the organisation and structure of the PTA, I think time is ripe more than it ever was [to join the PTPA],” he said.

“We have a great team of people that are part of the PTPA, we are growing in numbers with team members who are trying to make sure we perfect our structure and management best to the best of our abilities so that we show to the players primarily, but also to the whole tennis ecosystem that we are credible that is not going anywhere.

“We are going to evolve, we are going to develop, we are going to grow and we are going to fight for the players’ rights of having a more significant seat at the table of the decision-making process for whatever area of topic we are talking about in the tennis world, both men and women.”

The likes of Hubert Hurkacz, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Saisai Zheng are the other members of the executive board, but not too many players have publicly stated that they have joined the PTPA.

Djokovic admits they are facing some battles as players fear they could get into trouble with the ATP and WTA.

He added: “As a player, I understand what players are going through. I’ve been playing professional tennis for 20 years. I’ve been on the council. I’ve been the president of the council for years so I know exactly how things are moving around, how things are function and I feel it has been an absolute necessity to have an organisation that is representing only 100 percent players’ rights. Now we have it.

“It has been a quest for 20-plus years for different generations of players and for various reasons and factors, they haven’t succeeded in creating the player organisation. But now we have it and I invite all the players to recognise it.

“The biggest concern from the players is that if they sign up and support PTPA they will have legal problems with the ATP and WTA, [but] that is not the case and we have already communicated that internally with players in the locker rooms and also officially through communication via emails and meetings.

“Especially with the younger generations, they don’t want to risk too much. They think they want to be conservative, they want to focus on playing matches.

“They don’t want to lose what they’ve earned or what they are part of, which I understand and I don’t judge that but by supporting PTPA, you’re actually supporting yourself. You’re supporting your future.”

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic ‘is 100% right’ for forming PTPA as ATP told they ‘need to grow some cojones’