In the eyes of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), the score has been "advantage: professional tennis associations" for far too long. Referring to the governing bodies that run the tour and tournaments as a "cartel," the PTPA eschewed their usual courts of clay, grass, and synthetic layers for a legal one instead.
On March 18, 2025, the PTPA and 12 professional tennis players filed simultaneous lawsuits in the Southern District of New York, the United Kingdom, and the European Union against four of tennis's governing bodies. The plaintiffs allege multiple antitrust violations in the presumptive class action lawsuit.
Serving Up Fault
Unlike professional sports leagues consisting of teams, tennis players are not part of a players' union. Each professional tennis player is considered an independent contractor. This reduces the negotiating power of the players against the ruling bodies and allows unfair practices, according to the lawsuit.
These governing bodies — the Association of Tennis Players (ATP); the Women's Tennis Association (WTA); the International Tennis Federation (ITF); and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) — are listed as defendants in the lawsuits. Also named are the four biggest tournaments in professional tennis, known as the Grand Slam: Wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open.
In addition to the PTPA, a dozen active or retired professional players are signed on as plaintiffs. This includes highly ranked players Nick Kyrgios and Sorana Cirstea. Novak Djokovic, regarded as one of the greatest male tennis players of this era and both a co-founder of PTPA in 2020 and a member of its executive board, chose to leave his name off the list of plaintiffs.
Volleying for Control
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of engaging in varying types of controlling and illegal antitrust behaviors. As independent contractors, the players have little to no power to affect how tournaments are run, how much prize money is available, or even the length of the season.
Because the ATP and WTA standardize prize limits and yearly increases, they won't allow outside sources to add to a tournament's prize pool. This includes the Grand Slam tournaments. The suit claims this places an artificial cap on player earnings.
Issues with how the tours are run are also a bone of contention discussed in the lawsuit. Players have no control over the 11-month-long schedule or matches that last until 3 a.m. Both are described as "grueling." It also alleges that the defendants engaged in strident union-busting practices and actively discouraged players from joining the PTPA.
The ITIA is in charge of anti-doping and anti-corruption. The lawsuit accuses it of overzealous testing requirements and invasion of privacy by demanding access to players' phones. The ITIA defended its practices as necessary. The ITF stated that they are a non-profit focused on protecting and helping tennis grow as a sport.
To Form a More Perfect Union
The plaintiff's filings seek to become a landmark labor decision like those in other sports. Citing antitrust violations under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, the lawsuit may be the precursor to the attempted formation of a union for professional tennis players.
Among other relief, the lawsuit demands that the monopoly created by the defendants cease to exist, control through their unlawful conspiracy be enjoined, that all victims in the class action receive treble damages, and the profits earned be disgorged. No date has been set to determine if the lawsuit's demands fall outside the line.
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