Despite co-founding the PTPA, Novak Djokovic elected not to put his name on the PTPA’s lawsuit against the ATP, WTA, ITF, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency. The reason for that has been reported on.
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) announced a lawsuit against the bodies listed above on Tuesday, March 18th, for various reasons. These include concerns about prize money, privacy issues, and the ATP and WTA not allowing competition.
Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil founded the PTPA. Understandably, many assumed that a high-profile lawsuit like the one announced would include Djokovic’s name. Pospisil’s is among those listed.
However, Djokovic is not among the 12 players whose names are on the lawsuit. The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s decision not to do this seems odd at first, considering how influential he was in bringing the PTPA to life.
A report from The Athletic explained Djokovic’s absence. According to the report, the Serbian player considered putting his name on the lawsuit before deciding not to.
The Serbian reportedly justified the refusal to put his name on the lawsuit by claiming that he wanted the focus to be on a collective effort of the PTPA against the governing bodies it is taking action against, rather than too much emphasis being on himself.
Although Djokovic is free to do as he wishes and some might understand the 37-year-old’s reasoning, it still seems strange since his name on the lawsuit would generate more attention, which the PTPA surely wants so it can highlight what it considers to be the failures that led to the lawsuit.
It could also be argued that Djokovic, as the co-founder of the PTPA, should have a duty to sign a decision as substantial as a lawsuit since he was pivotal in making that significant move possible.
A more cynical view of Djokovic’s decision is that he wants to cover himself if the lawsuit fails. The former ATP world No. 1 could plausibly claim afterward that he did not include his name because of disagreements with aspects of how the lawsuit was handled.
Nick Kyrgios is among the players who signed the lawsuit. The controversial Australian has long been a critic of tennis’ governing bodies and called Jannik Sinner’s case settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency a sad day for tennis.
The complete list of names on the lawsuit are Kyrgios, Pospisil, Reilly Opelka, Noah Rubin, John-Patrick Smith, Tennys Sandgren, Aldila Sutjiadi, Varvara Gracheva, Saisai Zheng, John-Patrick Smith, Sorana Cirstea, and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
That is a tiny percentage of the players on the ATP and WTA Tours. However, the PTPA insists that it has the support of most players, including those at the very top, despite their absence from the lawsuit.
