World No 1 Novak Djokovic said that the Professional Tennis Players Association, a new player union started by him along with fellow professional Vasek Pospisil, has managed to get 200 WTA players on board.
Before the US Open, around 150 ATP players had signed up to take steps towards forming an association to explore issues of the players, something the ATP player council hasn’t exactly achieved, according to the men’s world No 1.
Djokovic stepped down as president of the body to form PTPA as co-president with Pospisil.
“The players association is going forward. I think it’s very important for us players to have 100% player representation, and I feel we can actually be a positive addition to ATP and work together, because this is what we want,” he told press ahead of his match on Friday at the Italian Open.
“We have, as I said again, we are not just men’s players association. We want women to be involved,” he said. “There are around 200 WTA players that signed,” he added.
At the US Open, the Serb had said that women will be a part of his proposed new players’ association that is sending shockwaves through world tennis. The new group was launched after a meeting among male players at the conclusion of the Western & Southern Open in New York, as seen in a photo shared by Djokovic and other players.
The move has not gone down well with ATP who asked those who were also on the ATP player council to resign. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal spoke out against the proposal when it was announced at the weekend. They called for “unity, not separation.”
Djokovic said that he met ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and had a discussion with him.
“I did meet Andrea. We did have a player meeting, and he did a presentation for us. It was about two days ago. We stayed for about two-and-a-half hours. I stayed all the way through, and I had a chat with him, privately,” said Djokovic.
The Serbian beat Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Friday.