3 Years After Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s United Urge, Novak Djokovic’s Rebel Association Highlights Existing Flaws in the System to Strengthen Their Voice Further

The debates regarding the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) strike back after the recent comments from its Executive Director. Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil rose the notion of a players association back in 2019. The PTPA came into effect in August 2020 when Pospisil posted a picture of the members standing on the court with masks on right before the commencement of the US Open. However, the idea of PTPA did upset several players.

Initially, it was supposed to be a men’s-only association and included players from the ATP tour only. But after receiving some backlash, the PTPA made way for the WTA players as well. The PTPA now represents all the singles players in the top 500 and doubles in the top 200 across both tours.

Novak Djokovic’s PTPA’s long-term goal

Novak Djokovic, through PTPA, wished to build a players-only association. The sole purpose of the organization is the development and well-being of the players.

READ MORE: ‘Dont Want Us to Be Present’–Novak Djokovic Makes His Intentions Clear Regarding PTPA

Recently, Ahmad Nassar, the Executive Director of PTPA, said, “Tennis players have really been left behind over the last 25-30 years. We don’t have a players association that is independent the way basketball, football, baseball, soccer have. We’re really trying to build an independent and self-sustaining players association that can really be here for the next 50 years.”

Nassar’s latest revelation does indicate that the PTPA might look to expand itself soon. With Novak Djokovic as the co-founder, PTPA can go onward and upwards at a strong rate.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s initial stance against PTPA

The players who were upset with the initial PTPA movement included some of the biggest names in tennis. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were among the first people to stand against the association. They believed that the association or the union was not uniting the players and instead; it was bringing more disparity among the players. Simona Halep supported the two legends and did not buy the idea of the new association.

Andy Murray joined in later and stood with Federer and Nadal. The three-time major champion was against the initial proposition that only included the men’s tour. All the above-mentioned names wanted a merger of the two tours, which did not seem plausible at the time of formation. However, PTPA now includes players from both ATP and WTA tours.

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