In 1990, the organization known as the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) transitioned from an association that only represented the players to a partnership between the players and the tournament organizers. The ATP Board of Directors is composed of three player representatives and three tournament representatives. The Chairman of the ATP Board only votes in the event where there is a tie between the players and the tournaments. That structure is what ultimately emerged following “The Press Conference in a Parking Lot.“
It is important to understand that the objectives of the players and the tournaments are competing interests. Each professional tournament is an independently owned and operated business. Tournaments want all the top players at their event for the minimum prize money possible. On the other hand, the players want to make as much money as possible with minimal tournament commitments.
While many of the motivations are different, the partnership between the ATP players and tournaments is effective because it is in the shared interest of both constituencies to promote professional tennis and do what is ultimately good for the game. The WTA operates under a similar partnership arrangement between the players and the tournaments.
Unfortunately not everybody is happy with the ATP organization. In 2020, Novak Djokivic and Vasek Popisil resigned their positions on the ATP players council to form a breakaway body to represent the interests of the players. The immediate response was a joint statement from the four Grand Slams, the WTA, the ATP, and the ITF. “It is a time for even greater collaboration, not division; a time to consider and act in the best interests of the sport, now and for the future,” the leaders added in the statement. “When we work together, we are a stronger sport.”
In a recent interview on the “No Challenges Remaining” podcast, Donald Dell estimated that the ATP players were already winning 70% of the internal conflicts at the ATP. He questioned both the wisdom and the need for a player exclusive organization. Dell also expressed skepticism that the players understood the magnitude of creating a new association. Billie Jean King shared a similar perspective, “I don’t think they realize how much work is involved.”
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have thrown their support behind the ATP tour and declined to join the PTPA initiative. Dell observed that while there are hundreds of players in the ATP, from a promotional standpoint only about 10 really matter to the marketability of the sport. At the moment, it doesn’t appear like the PTPA has the key players and the intestinal fortitude to organize a strike or a boycott which are the only practical labor actions available to the organization.
Kevin Anderson, who has been on the ATP Players’ Council for eight years, also declined to join the PTPA. “I chatted a lot with the remaining council members, we don’t feel that’s the best path to go down.” Anderson also expressed that splitting the players diminishes the influence of both bodies. It is simply not the time to decrease unity in the sport.
My current exploration of the history of the ATP was sparked by what might initially appear to be a completely unrelated topic. I am incredibly frustrated with how darn hard it is to watch broadcast tennis in the United States. Organizational fragmentation is one of the primary reasons that tennis doesn’t command the cohesive media attention required to effectively build and sustain the sport. Next Friday the “Fiend at Court Unplugged” series of posts will continue to explore that theme.
- Donald Dell, No Challenges Remaining Podcast, Episode 299b, May 13, 2021.
- Djokovic and Other Top Men Are Creating a Players’ Association, Ben Rothenberg, New York Times, August 28, 2020.
- The Tour Born In A Parking Lot, James Buddell, ATP Tour News Archive, August 26, 2013.
- Men’s Tennis in Limbo, Christine Brennan, The Washington Post, December 9, 1988.
- Kevin Anderson Discusses New Players’ Association Proposal, 2020 U.S. Open, Jon Wertheim, Beyond the Baseline Podcast, September 3, 2020.
- What Happened to Novak Djokovic’s Mission to Transform Pro Tennis?, Matthew Futterman, May 25, 2021.
