Problem is a Monopoly–It’s Hard to Break It

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, March 21, 2025
Photo credit: Matthew Calvis

When Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic surveys the tennis landscape, he’s struck by unsettling vision.

Former world No. 1 Djokovic sees the sport creeping toward a tennis feudal system with governing bodies and some tournaments thriving, while players are getting priced out of the competition. 

Meeting the media in Miami before his opening-round match vs. Rinky Hijikata, Djokovic was asked to assess the PTPA’s lawsuit against the ATP, WTA and ITF. 

Olympic gold-medal champion Djokovic said the primary issue is players, particularly lower-ranked players, are not receiving an adequate piece of the revenue pie. Consequently, some lower-ranked players are forced out of the sport simply because they cannot afford the cost of global travel and coaching. 

“Currently, there are not enough players [making a] living from this sport on the highest level, we are earning good money,” Djokovic told the media in Miami. “But the reason why I’ve been talking for years about the equal split of the pie, or increase of the prize money, is because of the grassroot levels.

“And the men and women, professional tennis players that are fighting to basically continue playing the sport. I know, personally, very big number of players that have left tennis, particularly during COVID time because of lack of funds. And so, I think I don’t know exactly nowadays, the number of players that are able to make a living from this sport?”

Djokovic estimates about 400 players making a living on the pro Tours and given the fact tennis is one of the most widely-viewed sports and generates hundreds of millions in gambling dollars, that number is unacceptable to him.

“I think it’s probably – singles, doubles, men, women combined – probably around 400 [players who make a living from tennis],” Djokovic said. “Which is not enough for a very global sport that we have. I want to see that number expand. I’ve been saying this quite a lot in the media in the last several years.

“But based on some studies and research that was done about the popularity of the sports tennis is actually the third or fourth most popular sport on the planet. I think we’re sharing the third spot with cricket. Number one is obviously football, or soccer, as you call it, [then] basketball, and it was followed by more than almost 2 billion people. And tennis and cricket is 1.3 billion people, but in terms of maximizing its potential, and commercial value, we are number nine, or ten. So, so there’s huge [potential].”

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀.

Today, the PTPA and over a dozen players, on behalf of the entire professional population, filed a sweeping series of legal actions against the ATP, WTA, ITF and ITIA to reform professional tennis. https://t.co/1r4LWQpopP

— Professional Tennis Players Association (@ptpaplayers) March 18, 2025

Founded in 2019, the PTPA has advocated for professional tennis players to have more say and control over their careers, including sponsorship and off-court earning opportunities that they feel are overly restricted by their participation in ATP and WTA events.

So given the massive audience and revenue numbers at stake, why haven’t players and the game’s governing bodies worked out a mutual agreement? Why did the PTPA file the blockbuster lawsuit against the ATP, WTA and ITF without one final effort to reach an accord?

Djokovic said the reason is simple: he views the current ATP political structure as a “monopoly”  

“Common Ground and a common direction that would be satisfying or win-win for everyone,” Djokovic said. “Problem is that there is a monopoly in place as well that has been there for decades, and it’s hard to break it, and players are often times getting a shorter end of the stick.

“And I think it’s right for any player, really, to speak up on this issue. So I think I’m towards the end of my career, and a lot of the people have always been relying on me to say something about this matter, as I’m doing right now, and I don’t mind talking about it.

“But I would like to see the current leaders of the respective tours and and the future generations that are going to lead this sport for the next decades, to take a lead, and to understand that these issues, these topics, these subjects, are important for them and for the players, and not just for them, but also for the other players that they are representing.”

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ATP blasted the PTPA claims of corruption as “entirely without merit” and further knocked the PTPA for trying to attract attention to its cause through “division and distraction.”

“While ATP has remained focused on delivering reforms that benefit players at multiple levels, the PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress,” the ATP said in a statement. “Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising.

“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position. ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game – towards continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for our players, tournaments, and fans.”

Djokovic, a former ATP Player Council President, and Vasek Pospisil founded The Professional Tennis Players Association with the aim of giving pro players total representation in the game’s decision-making process.

In recent interviews, Djokovic has reiterated his long-held claim that the ATP Board of Directors structure is broken and does not adequately represent player interest.

“We have a problem in the very—how can I say—structure of the ATP is that as players we only have the 50% of that organization,” Djokovic said. “There’s a lot of times there was conflict of interest between tournaments and players. We wanted different thing.

“We are part of the same system, and we can’t go without each other, but we are oftentimes in conflictual situations. “We want more money, they maybe don’t want to give us as much money when we talk about the prize money. There’s so many different layers of the prize money that you have to look into. It’s not that simple.”