Novak Djokovic is "100% right" in forming the PTPA, says former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash
The Professional Tennis Player's Association (PTPA), founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, has received strong support from former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.
The PTPA represents singles players in the top 500 and doubles players in the top 200 of the ATP rankings and WTA rankings and safeguards the players' interests, advocating for their well-being.
While the Association received a lukewarm response when it was launched in 2019, it has gathered momentum ever since. Top players in support of the PTPA include Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa, Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner, as well as former players like John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.
During an episode of the Control the Controllables podcast, Pat Cash was unequivocal in his support for a player's union. He believed that the WTA and ATP started with the same intent as the PTPA but were "losing their way" due to the complex relationship of tournament directors and promoters.
"I think the ATP and WTA are losing their way in some of these things. We need a player's union. There's no doubt. Always has been. Our voice is being lost by tournament directors. Not lost, but it certainly can be overshadowed by tournament directors who obviously need to make a living but they are promoters," Cash said during the podcast. "They promote a tour. Instead, they [ATP] are coming cap in hand to the promoters. They are promoters and not tournament directors, they're tournament promoters."
He reiterated the need to have a union solely focused on the interest of the players in an effort to give them greater autonomy.
"The ATP needs to grow some cojones and they need to have a player's union and Novak is a 100% right and all other players are 100% behind him and they need to have their own voice," he said.
Novak Djokovic to clash with Cameron Norrie in R16 of Italian Open 2023
Top seed Novak Djokovic will square off against Cameron Norrie in the Round of 16 at the 2023 Italian Open on Tuesday, May 16.
The 22-times Grand Slam champion sailed past Tomas Etcheverry in straight sets in the first round and overcame Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in a three-set battle in the second round.
In an on-court interview after his second-round match, the Serb spoke about dropping his first set of the tournament and stated that he was still "pleased" with the outcome.
āI dropped my level a bit, but luckily I managed find it right away in the first game [of the third set], made that crucial break and kind of shifted the momentum to my side, so Iām really pleased with the way I closed out the match,ā he said.
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Title defense: ššššš ā¤ļøāš„
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#IBI23 | @Reale_Mutua | #YourNextLevel https://t.co/sE7ZA1Arup
Meanwhile, thirteenth seed Cameron Norrie enjoyed straight-set victories over Alexandre Muller and Marton Fucsovics in first and second rounds respectively.
Both players have met twice on-court and their head to head stands at 2-0 in Djokovic's favor.