Tennis Groups Accused of Exploiting Players, Fixing Wages (2)

The Professional Tennis Players Association on Tuesday sued the sport’s four governing bodies, accusing them of operating as a cartel that restricts competition, suppresses player earnings, and enforces poor working conditions.

The ATP Tour Inc., WTA Tour Inc., International Tennis Federation Ltd., and International Tennis Integrity Agency Ltd. have locked up the market for players’ services through restrictive noncompete agreements and other deals, according to a complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP represents PTPA and is seeking to form a certified class of individual players. The firm filed a similar complaint with European Union competition authorities and is initiating legal proceedings in the UK for the claims.

“Tennis is really one of the last major sports where the wind of free market competition is not blowing,” Drew Tulumello, co-chair of Weil’s global litigation department, said. “There is just no incentive for the current governing bodies of tennis to make any concessions.”

The upstart PTPA, co-founded in 2019 by star Novak Djokovic, was created to advocate for players’ rights beyond their representation on the ATP’s players council.

The ATP Tour and WTA Tour regulate men’s and women’s professional tennis tours. The International Tennis Federation oversees tournaments, including the four Grand Slams: US Open, Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. The International Tennis Integrity Agency Ltd. works to enforce anti-doping and anti-corruption measures.

The suit names all four as defendants, accusing them of imposing a draconian, anticompetitive system of “ranking points” that dictate which tournaments players can compete in, how much they can earn, and whether they receive certain sponsorship opportunities.

The WTA said in a statement that the PTPA’s action is “both regrettable and misguided, and we will defend our position vigorously in due course.”

The defendants force players into an unsustainable schedule, and players are required to pay for their own travel and handle their own logistics to participate in dozens of tournaments across six continents, the suit says.

They also force players to play in 100-degree heat and endure matches that last until 3 a.m., the suit says.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said in a statement that it is aware of the lawsuit and continues to “welcome opportunities to engage with any and all members of the sport, including players, coaches, support staff, officials, and media, to build trust in tennis’ anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes.”

PTPA seeks an unspecified amount of damages as well as a permanent injunction to stop the violations alleged in the complaint.

The International Tennis Federation declined to comment. ATP didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The case is Pospisil v. ATP Tour Inc., S.D.N.Y., 1:25-cv-02207, complaint 3/18/25.