World No.2 Alexander Zverev says players must unite and not fight amid an ongoing legal dispute between tennis’ governing bodies and an association co-founded by Novak Djokovic.
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) has filed legal complaints in three separate countries – the USA, UK and Belgium. They accuse tennis bosses of ‘anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare.’ In their legal document the complaint covers concerns about anti-competitive practices, prize money, ranking points, the tennis schedule, player welfare and anti-doping/anti-corruption investigations.
On top of this, the PTPA has filed another complaint seeking a court order that prevents the ATP Tour from “improper, coercive or threatening communications” with players. The PTPA claims that during the Miami Open players were ‘threatened with adverse consequences’ if they participated in action. However, the ATP said via a statement that they ‘strongly reject’ these claims before saying the PTPA case is ‘entirely without merit.’
Giving his view on the ongoing dispute, Zverev says there were some ‘valuable points’ raised by the lawsuit but believes it the sport would be better off being united. The German is a member of the ATP Player’s Advisory Council.
“It’s too early to say what I want to come out of it,” Zverev told reporters after beating Jacob Fernley at the Miami Open.
“Look, I think there are some valuable points, for sure. But I think that players and tours should unite and not fight, you know?
“I don’t know what their main goal is. I don’t know what they want to come out of it. I think for the ATP Tour, which is a very healthy tour – the ATP Tour has resources. Maybe [the court case is] going to cost a lot of money, but the tour will not disappear.
“I think it’s very dangerous for the WTA Tour because they’re more fragile. They don’t have the resources that maybe the ATP Tour has to fight this.”
Zverev, who declined to go into the specifics of what he believes can be improved in tennis, says it is important to listen to the views of those playing on the Tour. Arguing that the ATP has become more focused on its business goals than the players in recent years. Something he hopes will change in the future.
“There are issues that we’ve talked about. Scheduling is one of them. Extended tournaments are another. Profit sharing. To be honest, I think the tours are doing an okay job with that. I think it’s more the Grand Slams that we have to look at in that regard,” he said.
“But I think in the last 15 to 20 years, the tour has become, the ATP has become more of a business structure where they look at, okay, the tournaments are maybe more important than the players.
I’m not sure that’s right. The players’ health should still come first. Longevity of a career should still come first.
“There are things that, yeah, you can still improve, you can still work on. That’s why I am in the player council. I really believe that we together with the ATP and together with the people that are on top who can actually decide of what direction the tour goes in, we can improve.”
Zverev is the top seed in Miami where he will play Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the third round on Monday.
