Novak Djokovic, Ons Jabeur, and other PTPA Player Committee members have mini reunion ahead of French Open
Members of the Player Executive Committee of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2019, posed together for a photograph ahead of the French Open 2023.
The committee is made up of Novak Djokovic, Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa, John Isner, Hubert Hurkacz, Vasek Pospisil, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Saisai Zheng. The group was pictured in front of the Eiffel Tower ahead of the French Open 2023.
The crew's all here😄
Our Player Executive Committee has arrived in Paris🇫🇷
📸: @BrianPBosche https://t.co/afCLSs4xnS
Djokovic and Pospisil founded PTPA with the aim of addressing the shortcomings of the current ATP, WTA, and ITF structures as well as representing the best interests of all professional tennis players.
However, the PTPA has struggled to gain a foothold as the ATP and the WTA remain the leading men's and women's organizations and attract players. PTPA has also faced legal challenges.
Still, the hurdles haven't stopped the PTPA from speaking out on issues that affect tennis players, like pay disparity, mental health, and awareness. PTPA also held its first player meet of the year in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic defends PTPA amid suggestions that a players' association sows discord
Novak Djokovic has often reiterated that the PTPA is the first organization in tennis history to have 100% player-only representation. However, the association has faced allegations of sowing discord among the tennis community by disrupting the traditional ATP-WTA model.
The PTPA addressed the suggestion in a recent letter sent to all professional tennis players.
In the letter, PTPA argued that its primary goal is to make sure that players are not divided and left behind and that the tennis community stays stronger despite geographical, cultural, and political divides. They aim to foster a sense of companionship among players in an individual sport like tennis.
The letter read:
"We leave all players with a final question: has there ever existed a tennis organization that focused exclusively on supporting and representing all players, regardless of the tour, Grand Slam events, rankings, geographical location, or other factors that have historically caused division?"
"Our Principles begin with the statement, 'Tennis is predominantly an individual sport, but that should not mean individual players are isolated and divided.'"
Novak Djokovic himself has voiced his support for uniting tennis players and making the PTPA a representative of players who usually don't get a chance to make their opinions heard.
"Divisions are definitely not something that PTPA stands for. We actually want to unite, we want to represent more the voices of the players that are normally not heard, that you normally don’t get a chance to speak to or see them," he said.