Novak Djokovic, Ons Jabeur on committee of controversial PTPA tennis body

Melbourne: Novak Djokovic and women’s world number two Ons Jabeur were named Wednesday on the first executive committee of the controversial Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). Serbia’s Djokovic, the former men’s number one, was instrumental in the creation of the PTPA, having quit as president of the ATP Player Council in 2020 to launch the breakaway organisation. The ATP runs men’s tennis. The PTPA is independent of the ATP and its women’s equivalent, the WTA, and says it wants to give players a greater voice in the sport.

The PTPA is proud to announce its first-ever Executive Committee and Official Principles.

Read More: https://t.co/JapVmFtdyN pic.twitter.com/mQ7a3u7nmY

— Professional Tennis Players Association (@ptpaplayers) January 10, 2023

Six other players were also named on the executive committee, or leadership body: Paula Badosa, Hubert Hurkacz, John Isner, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Vasek Pospisil and Zheng Saisai. The committee is “centered on advancing player rights, growing and improving the business of tennis”, the PTPA said in a statement from Melbourne, ahead of next week’s Australian Open.

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩-𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙋𝙏𝙋𝘼 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙚@DjokerNole: PTPA co-founder, 21x men's singles Grand Slam champion from Belgrade, Serbia. 🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/R7MNUBbr3u

— Professional Tennis Players Association (@ptpaplayers) January 10, 2023

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Speaking in Adelaide last week, Djokovic said: “When it comes to PTPA, a player organisation that is 100 percent devoted to players, we don’t have anything like that in tennis.” The 35-year-old, one of the most successful men’s players of all time, admitted that “we were not accepted and embraced by Grand Slams, ATP nor WTA, so it makes things difficult for us”. “But this association needs to live,” he said. “It needs to be there because players don’t have 100 percent representation in the tennis world, unfortunately.” Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.