Reilly Opelka has jumped to the defence of Novak Djokovic over his decision to co-found the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) earlier this year.
The world No.39 says the 17-time Grand Slam champion has been given negative press based on incorrect information concerning the PTPA. The individual union was created to campaign for players to have a greater say in the decision making process. Although there is a division in the sport over the move with members of the ATP Players Council urging their peers not to join. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who are both members of the council, have called for a more united front.
23-year-old Opelka is one of a group of players who have already joined the organisation which was co-founded by Djokovic and Canada’s Vasek Pospisil. It was officially launched during the lead up to this year’s US Open.
“I think it’s a great move. I think that it was just frustrating for me to see a guy like Novak, that gets the negative press on things that aren’t true, right?” the 23-year-old told Racquet Mag.
“He’s a really, really friendly guy. At the US Open, he’s at the point now, every time he’s entering a Slam, he’s going for history, as the greatest of all time. And he doesn’t need to take the time to come up to me after a match, and just talk, and ask how my knee’s doing. It’s not common. It’s not like we grew up together—we’re in different generations.’
“He’s very, very aware of the younger generations. He’s very aware of a lot of the women’s players. He loves tennis. He cares about the sport.”
At present it appears that the PTPA is struggling to reach common ground with the ATP despite Djokovic previously saying he believes the two can co-exist. During the ATP Finals in November the Serbian said he was barred from elections for the council due to a new rule change which prohibits somebody to join if they are a member of another organisation.
“This rule is a strong message from the ATP that they don’t want the PTPA at all or any player involved. It’s very clear.” He said.
“It’s unfortunate to see the ATP position is such as the rule they have voted on.‘
“Now we know where we stand and now we have to consider other strategic positions, and our next move in a different way.”
Jurgen Melzer, who is a current member on the ATP council, has hit back at those comments by describing them as ‘utter nonsense.’ He argues that statues surrounding eligibility have been in existence since 2006 and it was only logical that players can’t be part of two organisations. Although it is believed that by-laws have recently been adjusted.
Opelka hopes the PTPA will help address the issue of gambling in tennis after revealing that he has received numerous death threats from online bettors. He would like to see a push for gambling to become regulated which will lead to an increase in money being invested into tennis. In recent years Tennis’ governing bodies have clamped down on the issue following an extensive independent investigation into match-fixing.
“If you regulate the gambling—which is going to happen no matter what—and they make a lot of money. I know, because every time I lose, I get all these death threats. And tennis is a very bet-upon sport and it goes on all year,” he said.
“Gambling companies, I’m sure they want write-offs, and want to throw money into it. At the Challenger level—I think every single one should be played for $30,000. And you have guys from 75 to 200 playing for 30 grand at the Challenger level each week, expenses covered, that would be great. I think they’d be really happy about that.”
The PTPA is yet to publicly comment on this issue. They currently only have male backers but it is believed that they will open up to female members at some stage in the new year.
