By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Photo credit: TTV

The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), backed by Novak Djokovic and investment banker Bill Ackman, filed a lawsuit in the New York Federal Court and the United Kingdom and European Union on Tuesday.

Multiple players, including Nick Kyrgios, Vasek Pospisil, and Sorana Cirstea, also support the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that the ATP, WTA, and International Tennis Federation (ITF) are actively engaged in corrupt business practices that limit players’ ability to earn money and restrict their professional lives.

“Tennis is broken,” Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA, said in a press release about the lawsuit. “Behind the glamorous veneer that the Defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety.

“We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts.”

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.

The PTPA also thinks that players should earn more prize money at various tournaments than they are allowed per WTA and ATP rules.

The lawsuit was also filed against the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which oversees anti-doping and anti-corruption efforts in the sport.

The PTPA believes that the ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA “…operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices.” That includes violating players’ privacy rights through excessive random drug tests, intrusive searches of their cell phones, and being forced to sign illegal arbitration agreements for any disputes.

Cirstea, in the PTPA press release said, “Players don’t have the luxury of waiting indefinitely for meaningful change. Despite repeatedly voicing concerns and speaking up, we have been met with empty promises. The current conditions—demanding schedules, financial uncertainty, and inadequate support—are unsustainable. Legal action is not a first choice, but at this stage, it is necessary to force accountability and ensure long-overdue improvements. Players deserve better and the future generations deserve better. We won’t give up until real change happens!”

Speaking to ESPN, Pospisil said that the PTPA felt that they had no choice but to file the lawsuit after trying to resolve their issues with the other organizations directly. “At some point we just felt as if we didn’t have another option,” Pospisil said to ESPN. “We didn’t set out to create a player association to not affect major change. That’s always been the goal from the beginning, and we have to really consider all strategies and avenues to eventually accomplish that goal.”

The ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA had no comment on the lawsuit.