Tennis is a supremely popular sport, and only continues to grow in infamy, as do the stars within it.
After all, it has birthed some of the greatest athletes that the world has ever seen, with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Serena Williams just some of the more recent legends to have been created by the sport.
In fact, another has just called time on his career too, as Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis just today.
However, as the popularity of the sport has increased, so too have the demands being placed upon these players, forced to play relentlessly.
With each new week there is a new tournament, all over the world, demanding remarkable levels of concentration, patience and physical attunement.
For some, it’s understandably getting too much.
The ATP threatened tennis players
And that is what the PTPA is there to help with.
The Professional Tennis Players Association is an organisation that, whilst not a union, seeks to give those on the tour a voice, and to prove that they are more than just pawns in the wider game of tennis.
And now, speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the organisation’s director, Ahmad Nassar, has emerged to explain why they are so needed.
He revealed: ‘People ask: How many members? Where’s the list of members? And without sounding cagey, these players have been threatened.
‘The ATP amended its bylaws to say that you are not eligible for benefits. Your person. If you are a member of any sort of rival group, and they don’t define that, they leave the discretion with themselves.
‘We’ve told the ATP this… we are and players are wary of retribution by outwardly putting any of their, and they’re not shy to talk about issues, scheduling, fatigue, all those things, they’re also not shy to sign up for our benefits…’.
Nassar then continued, later in the podcast: ’In 2020 when we first launched, there was an email sent to all players that basically more or less read between the lines [said that] if you join the association there will be repercussions.
‘Players were scared. They were coming to me and asking me ‘What does all this mean? Are we going to lose our pension? What’s going to happen?’ So, the threats have been happening. They were real. I still to this day get these questions from players that are concerned about what might happen if they join our association.’
What is the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association)?
Founded in 2019 by Vasek Pospisil and Djokovic, this is a group that was forged due to the perceived shortcomings of the ATP and how they failed to protect the interests of the players, the stars of their show.
So, across 2020, they formed this movement.
Initially founded as a non-profit, it now represents singles players in the top 500 and doubles players in the top 200 of the ATP rankings and WTA rankings.
And although there is some scrutiny over the clouded nature of its membership group, a few key names are referenced, with Paula Badosa, Hubert Hurkacz and Ons Jabeur three other notable players on the executive committee.
Iga Swiatek has complained about the tennis schedule regularly, as has Carlos Alcaraz.
This is but one of the many facets that the PTPA seeks to rectify with its continued involvement in tennis.
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