The Serbian Novak Djokovic and the Tunisian Ons Jabeur were appointed Wednesday at the head of the Association of Professional Tennis Players (PTPA), independent of the ATP and the WTA.
The former world number 1 announced the creation of this association on the sidelines of the US Open 2020, after leaving his post as president of the ATP Players Council, the official representative body for tennis players.
According to Djokovic, the PTPA does not want to dissent from world bodies but to give players more weight in decisions concerning professional tennis, particularly on tournament staffing issues.
Six other players will participate in this executive committee, the governing body of the PTPA: the Spaniard Paula Badosa, the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the American John Isner, his compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands, the Canadian Vasek Pospisil and the Chinese Zheng Saisai.
The PTPA will have to fight to be accepted
This committee "will focus on the progress of players' rights, the development and improvement of the tennis market", explained the union in a press release.
Last week, Djokovic assured that the PTPA was unique in tennis, calling it "an organization 100% devoted to players".
“We have not been accepted or included by the organizers of Grand Slams, the ATP or the WTA, so that makes it difficult,” added the player, who is 35 years old and aims for a 22nd Grand Slam title in Melbourne. .
"But this association must live," he said.
It must exist because unfortunately the players are not 100% represented in the world of tennis”.
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