By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 3, 2023
Lacking two of the 4 Grand Slams in 2022 infuses Novak Djokovic with a number of main ambition this season.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion is chasing historical past and aiming to reform the game.
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The highest-seeded Serbian swept Frenchman Fixed Lestienne 6-3, 6-2 in a pointy Adelaide Worldwide opener.
It got here after Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil dropped a three-set doubles match.
Off courtroom, Djokovic says their partnership is making progress. The pair based The Skilled Tennis Gamers Affiliation with the purpose of giving professional gamers complete illustration.
Djokovic says regardless of the very fact the PTPA “weren’t accepted” by the ATP, WTA and Grand Slams, the group is gaining traction and monetary backing and “must stay.”
“I feel there’s a variety of authorized challenges alongside the best way,” Djokovic informed the media in Adelaide. “We managed to beat all these challenges, and we’re gathering the fitting workforce of individuals with advisory board, folks which are going to assist with financing the affiliation, after all folks from the tennis world that can assist us set up ourselves inside the ecosystem, which I feel is essential as we weren’t accepted and embraced by Grand Slams, ATP nor WTA, so it makes issues tough for us, however this affiliation must stay.”
The PTPA is significant as a result of it is solely dedicated to giving gamers a voice within the decision-making course of that impacts the game, Djokovic stated.
“It must be there as a result of gamers do not have one hundred pc illustration within the tennis world, sadly,” Djokovic stated. “With the affiliation they’ve that. Hopefully extra gamers can be displaying the willingness to grasp what PTPA can do for them.
“It is a course of that can take an extended time simply because we aren’t getting credibility from different governing our bodies, so it’ll take longer, however we’ll keep there, and it is one thing that hopefully can keep for a lot of a long time to come back.”
Whereas the PTPA does have the assist of a number of star gamers it doesn’t have a voice that is acknowledged by the sport’s governing our bodies.
Final spring, Djokovic criticized the ATP for shutting the PTPA out of conferences in regards to the ongoing imbroglio between the ATP and WTA Excursions and Wimbledon over the grass-court Grand Slam’s choice to ban Russian and Belarusian gamers.
That ban was Wimbledon’s condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine and prompted the ATP and WTA Excursions to strip Wimbledon of rating factors—a choice opposed by Djokovic and the PTPA.
That disconnect compelled Djokovic, who’s pleasant with ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi, to model the ATP damaged and cost it “has failed gamers so many instances.”
In brief, the PTPA needs a seat on the decision-making desk and the ATP has proven the group the door. Djokovic charged the Tour continues to mute the voices of gamers and factors to lack of wide-spread session with gamers earlier than its Wimbledon choice as a major instance.
“It is the council of ATP that’s inside the construction, this representing physique of gamers, and that is the way it’s been for many years,” Djokovic stated earlier than Wimbledon. “I do not assume that is one of the best system that now we have. I simply assume the system has failed gamers so many instances, so many instances, and that is the explanation why PTPA must exist, as a result of when it comes all the way down to this sort of massive selections, you recognize, a variety of the gamers’ voices aren’t heard sufficient.
“Sadly, you recognize, inside ATP you could have 50/50 % of illustration between gamers and tournaments. So you might be by no means going to have one hundred pc gamers’ curiosity in place.”
Photograph credit score: Sue McKay/Getty
