Novak Djokovic Washes His Hands Of The Quasi-Player Union He Co-Founded

Right before the 2020 U.S. Open, Novak Djokovic co-founded a group called the Professional Tennis Players Association. The sport is governed by a handful of powerful institutions, which face little pushback due to scant labor organization. The PTPA was intended to advocate for players' interests. It is not technically a union, because tennis players are not employees, but it is the closest thing the sport has to one. Five years after that launch, with few wins to show for it, Djokovic announced on Sunday that he would "step away completely" from the PTPA. He cited concerns about "transparency, governance, and the way my voice and image have been represented." Although the PTPA theoretically addressed a real need, and Djokovic has been more vocal than any 21st-century tennis star about the plight of players with lower ranks and fewer resources, it would be difficult to argue that he achieved anything of enduring value during those five years.

Tennis players are subject to the whims of the big institutions that make up the sport: the men's tour, the women's tour, the four Grand Slams, and the International Tennis Federation. They also earn a tiny fraction of the revenue that their play generates: Most years, the prize pool for a Grand Slam is around 15 percent of revenue, compared to the roughly 50 percent of revenue sharing seen in leagues with stronger collective bargaining.