{"id":34733,"date":"2025-03-21T02:33:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34733"},"modified":"2025-03-21T02:33:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:33:03","slug":"i-want-other-players-to-step-up-djokovic-distances-himself-from-controversial-players-union-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34733","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I want other players to step up\u2019: Djokovic distances himself from controversial players union lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic has sought to create some distance between himself and the legal action taken against the ATP and WTA tours by the players\u2019 union he formed, calling on younger players to take a stand.<\/p>\n

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Djokovic said on Thursday that there are some things in the lawsuit from the Professional Tennis Players\u2019 Association (PTPA) that he disagrees with and also expressed some discomfort with the language used.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a classic lawsuit, so lawyers to lawyers type of situations,\u201d Djokovic told a press conference at the Miami Open.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cSo to be quite frank with you, there are things that I agree with in the lawsuit and there are also things that I don\u2019t agree with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that maybe some wording was quite strong in there. But I guess the legal team knows what they\u2019re doing and what kind of terminology they\u2019re supposed to use in order to get the right effect,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The record 24-time Grand Slam winner co-founded the PTPA in 2020 with Canadian Vasek Pospisil but noticeably was not among the 20 players named in Tuesday\u2019s legal filing.<\/p>\n

The Serbian said the PTPA had changed over the five years since it\u2019s founding. \u201cIt\u2019s has grown into organisation that has full time employees. I think it has around 30 people right now working day-to-day.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cSo they make a lot of different decisions and initiatives moving forward. And I am in an executive committee, but I\u2019m not in power or influence, so I don\u2019t have a veto over decisions or actions that they take,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

But Djokovic said part of his motivation for keeping his name off the legal action was to send a message to other top players that they needed to begin to speak out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Step up –<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, I felt like I don\u2019t need to sign the letter because I want other players to step up. I\u2019ve been very active in tennis politics,\u201d he said, noting his role over years in the players\u2019 council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried to do my very best during my very active career when I was playing the most matches in my career and didn\u2019t have so much time and energy.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cBut nevertheless, I felt that it\u2019s also my responsibility in my role to try to use the influence and the role to support players and to fight for their rights and it\u2019s been almost 20 years that I\u2019ve been on the tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen some changes, but you know there\u2019s some fundamental changes there are still yet to be made and I really hope that all the governing bodies including PTPA will come together and solve these issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz said on Wednesday that he did not agree with the lawsuit but Djokovic said top players had a responsibility to work for change for those lower down the ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, a lot of the people have always been relying on me to say something about this matter as I\u2019m doing right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t mind talking about it, but I would like to see the current leaders on the respective tours and the future generations…to take a lead and to understand that these issues are important for them. And for the players, not just for them, but also for the other players that they\u2019re representing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Even) if you\u2019re not part of the PTPA or whatever, if you\u2019re not part of any body that represents players, you still, as a top player, you\u2019re regarded, celebrated from so many hundreds or thousands of professional tennis players around the world.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI personally feel that there\u2019s a responsibility and accountability that comes with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to carry that weight with you, you have to always remember that you were also in their shoes and, you know, we all know how hard is in the first year, second year of professional tennis trying to break through,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic has sought to create some distance between himself and the legal action taken against the ATP and WTA tours by the players\u2019 union he formed,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018I want other players to step up\u2019: Djokovic distances himself from controversial players union lawsuit - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018I want other players to step up\u2019: Djokovic distances himself from controversial players union lawsuit - 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