The tennis world descended into civil war as a group of players and the union founded by Novak Djokovic launched a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies for running a ‘corrupt, abusive and illegal system’.

The case is wide ranging but focuses on player earnings and the punishing tour schedule.

The PTPA (Professional Tennis Players’ Association), founded in 2020 by Djokovic and former Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil, are the key plaintiffs along with a group of players including Nick Kyrgios.

The defendants are the ATP and WTA tours, global body the ITF and anti-corruption and doping body the ITIA – but the Grand Slams including Wimbledon are listed as ‘co-conspirators’

‘Tennis is broken,’ said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA. ‘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. Fixing these systemic failures isn’t about disrupting tennis—it’s about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come.’

The union co-founded by Novak Djokovic has launched a lawsuit against tennis governing bodies – although the Serbian star is not among the plaintiffs

The PTPA accused the ATP and WTA Tours of running a ‘corrupt, abusive and illegal system’

Among the many grievances are:

Pospisil, who won the Wimbledon men’s doubles in 2014, said: ‘For too long, players have been forced to accept a broken system that ignores our well-being, undervalues our contributions, and leaves us without real representation.

‘The lawsuits expose a deeply entrenched, anticompetitive system rife with monopolistic control, conflicts of interest, economic exploitation, and blatant disregard for player welfare by the defendants.’

The full list of 12 player plaintiffs, alongside the PTPA, are Pospisil, Kyrgios, Anastasia Rodionova, Nicole Melichar-Martinez, Saisai Zheng, Sorana Cistrea, John-Patrick Smith, Noah Rubin, Aldila Sutjiadi, Varvara Gracheva, Tennys Sandgren and Reilly Opelka.

PTPA co-founder Vasek Pospisil claims players have been forced to accept a ‘broken system’

Nick Kyrgios is among 12 players joining the PTPA in the lawsuit against the governing bodies

Djokovic himself is surprisingly not among the plaintiffs.

The PTPA said there was a desire for the suit to be seen as players vs the tours, rather than being framed as a personal quest from the most powerful man in the game.

It is now over to the tours whether to fight an extremely costly legal battle across two continents – the lawsuit has been filed in the USA, UK and EU – or come to the table and thrash out a resolution.

Responding to the lawsuit, the ATP said in a statement: ‘We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position.

‘ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game – towards continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for our players, tournaments, and fans.’

The WTA said: ‘The PTPA’s action is both regrettable and misguided, and we will defend our position in due course.’

There is a sense in the industry that the PTPA were not taken seriously by the established powers, and never would be until they showed their teeth. Well they certainly have now.

It would not be a surprise to see Donald Trump wade into the dispute. One of the PTPA’s first backers was billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who is also a staunch supporter of Trump. And we have already seen the US President attempt to intervene in the rift between the PGA tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf tour.