Australian Tennis Star Details Why Novak Djokovic Led PTPA Will Not Be Beneficial as ATP Players Council

Just before the US Open this year, World No.1 Novak Djokovic, along with a group of players, namely, Vasek Pospisil and John Isner, resigned from the ATP Players Council. They formed an organization called the “Professional Tennis Players Association” (PTPA). The association was established with an intention to ‘voice’ the opinion of players.

Recently, Australia’s second-ranked player, John Millman, voiced his opinion on this issue and stated,

“The professional tennis players association wants it to be 100% players and right now the ATP set up is 50% players and 50% tournaments. In my view without the players the tournaments can’t exist and also the tournament can’t exist without the players. So I do believe it’s more of a partnership and you have to foster those relationships.”

The move from Novak has been called into question by critics. As per them, such acts don’t work in the best interest of the game. On the contrary, it can give rise to a division amongst players. 

Novak Djokovic Should Work Together

Speaking further on this subject, John added, “That’s where the big divide is, whether you’re pro PTPA or you feel that the system could get better. I do feel you have to work together to get the product and that is why I was keen to join the ATP players council and you have to work together with tournaments like the Australian Open to benefit. That’s my take on that right now.”

Stars like Federer and Nadal called for unity and voiced similar opinions to that of the ATP. In a shocking turn of events, Novak was nominated to rejoin the ATP Players Council.

However, the ATP Players Council passed a resolution not allowing players to be a part of two different organizations simultaneously. 

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With Melbourne being the venue where Novak has enjoyed the most success, the defending Australian Open champion will try to regroup and distance himself from the controversies off the court.