Tunisian Ons Jabeur and Serbian Novak Djokovic and were appointed Wednesday January 11, 2023 at the head of the Association of Professional Tennis Players (PTPA), independent of ATP and WTA.
The ex-N.1 world had announced the creation of this association on the sidelines of the US Open 2020, after leaving his post as chairman of the ATP players’ council, an official representation body of tennis players.
According to Djokovic, the PTPA does not want to be dissenting compared to the global authorities but give more weight to the players in decisions concerning professional tennis, in particular on the endowment of tournaments.
Six other players will participate in this executive committee, PTPA leader: the Spaniard Paula Badosa, Polish Hubert Hurkacz, the American John Isner, his compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands, the Canadian Vasek Pospisil and the Chinese Zheng Seari.
This committee “will focus on the progress of players’ rights, development and improvement of the tennis market,” the union said in a statement.
Last week, Djokovic assured that the PTPA was unique in tennis, describing it as a “100% devoted organization to players”.
“We were not accepted or included by the organizers of Grands Colems, ATP or WTA, so it makes things difficult,” added the player, who aims at 35 years a 22nd Grand Slam title to Melbourne.
“But this association must live,” he said. “It must exist because unfortunately players are not 100% represented in the world of tennis”.
