MIAMI GARDENS, MARCH 19: A tennis union co-founded by Novak Djokovic on Tuesday announced a series of legal actions aimed at the sport's governing bodies, alleging "anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices".
The Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA) said it was suing both tour organisers, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).
The International Tennis Federation (ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) were also named as defendants in a series of actions in the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union.
Both the ATP and WTA responded by vowing to defend themselves against the claims with the men's tour saying the PTPA has "consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress".
The PTPA was set up by Djokovic and Canadian Vasek Pospisil in 2020. Some 20 players were named as part of at least one of the actions.
"The lawsuits expose systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare that have persisted for decades," said the PTPA statement.
"The ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices."
"Tennis is broken," said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA. �"AFP
