‘I’m not supporting that’: Grand slam champion unaware of bombshell tennis lawsuit

Four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz has distanced himself from the bombshell player union lawsuit against tennis’ governing bodies, as Nick Kyrgios called the legal action a “special moment” for the sport.

The Professional Tennis Players Association, co-founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, accused the ATP and WTA Tours, the ITF and International Tennis Integrity Unit in the lawsuit of forming an illegal “cartel” that capped earnings, placed unfair demands on players and used a “draconian” rankings system.

Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz.Credit: AP

Kyrgios joins fellow Australians John-Patrick Smith and Anastasia Rodionova among the 12 plaintiffs, a list that does not include Djokovic.

Pospisil wrote on the X social media platform that the PTPA spoke to more than 300 players before filing in a New York court, and “everyone was extremely supportive. Including the top players”, an assertion that Kyrgios emphatically backed.

However, former world No.1 Alcaraz said at the Miami Open on Thursday that he did not know about the lawsuit until it was announced.

An Australian player who competes exclusively on the elite tour, and spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities involved, was also unaware the lawsuit was coming – and, like Alcaraz, did not agree with all the claims made in the lawsuit.

“It was surprising for me because, honestly, no one told me anything about it,” Alcaraz said.

“I saw [on] social media that there were statements … they put something that I said in a press conference, which I didn’t know. Honestly, I don’t support that letter … I don’t support that because I didn’t know anything about it.

“There are some things that I agree with; there are some other things that I don’t agree with. The main thing here is that I’m not supporting that.”

The plaintiffs are a mix of past and present players, several of whom have regularly been outspoken on various issues, such as Kyrgios, Rodionova and Americans Tennys Sandgren and Reilly Opelka.

Another tennis source, who this masthead granted anonymity to speak more freely on the topic, suggested the plaintiffs were likely carefully selected to present a certain perspective on tour life.

Never short of an opinion: Nick Kyrgios.Credit: Getty Images

The PTPA, bankrolled by billionaire Bill Ackman and headed by executive director Ahmad Nassar, has put together a formidable team with extensive experience in similar situations across other sports.

Three different sources were also interested in how PTPA incorrectly stated in the lawsuit that the ITF organises the four grand slams, who are not being sued in the class action and instead are referenced as “co-conspirators”.

The theory from two of those sources was that the decision may have been strategic and potentially a precursor to working with the slams.

Kyrgios, who has become a close friend of Djokovic’s after they were once sparring partners, is a long-time advocate that professional tennis players were underpaid. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist said the sport was overdue for change and that the lawsuit represented “a big day for tennis”.

“We’re the only sport in the world that doesn’t have a players’ association,” Kyrgios told Sky Sports.

“The PTPA’s first goal was to get the players to be heard. I feel like we don’t get heard. For instance, we’re using different balls pretty much every week – things that absolutely shouldn’t be happening in a high, professional sport.

“The ATP just had so much power; they don’t have to show anything to anyone. Now, things will have to change, they will have to show things, how things operate – and that’s when people realise that it hasn’t really been done correctly for many years.

“I don’t think players ultimately have been very happy with what they earn on the tour comparatively to other sports, and that’s definitely one of the main reasons.”

Kyrgios and Rodionova are mentioned among the plaintiffs as being supportive of the PTPA’s gripes against tennis authorities, whereas Smith’s arduous 45-week, 62-match season last year and his impromptu test on the eve of an Australian Open match where “a copious amount of his blood” was taken are itemised.

This masthead contacted Smith, a doubles specialist who made this year’s Australian Open mixed final with Kim Birrell, for comment.

The ATP and WTA both pointed to their 50-50 governance structure, which includes four player and four tournament representatives on their respective board of directors, in statements responding to the lawsuit.

But Nassar wrote on X that “50-50 governance is an illegal sham”, among his series of succinct rebuttals.

Melbourne-based ATP and WTA tournament director Peter Johnston disagreed with Nassar’s stance, saying he believed that many of the issues raised in the lawsuit, including Kyrgios’ tennis ball reference, could be handled at board level without the need for court action.

“There’s a democratic process that’s in place, which embraces player interests,” Johnston told this masthead.

“Maybe this heightens that there’s a different way to progress the debate. But there’s a lot of people who are part of this process … who are elected by the player group, so they can always be turfed out, changed, they can resign, new people come in.

“The beauty of the tours is it fully embraces that 50-50 split.”

Johnston was also confident there would not be a tennis version of golf’s breakaway LIV tour, pointing to the footprint Saudi Arabia had already made in the sport, from the WTA Finals to the likelihood of a 10th Masters 1000 event in that country.

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