Original tennis rebel Djoko sidesteps current protest

Novak Djokovic served as the godfather of tennis player protest several years ago when he helped start the PTPA. But the former No. 1 has ruled himself out of taking action now as competitors voice their dis-satisfaction over prize money splits at the French Open.

While Djokovic’s Professional Tennis Player Association still exists, the organisation which never truly took flight, has been superseded by the current protest at Roland Garros.

Many top competitors are limiting media time to a quarter of an hour and refusing to speak with TV rightsholders who in some cases have paid millions for access during the Paris Grand Slam.

Djokovic, who turned 39 on Friday, is content to watch from the sidelines after helping kickstart the player rights movement.

“I’m not part of that, I haven’t been part of the conversation or the planning or decision-making.

“But I have always been on the players’ side and tried to advocate

for players’ rights and better future for players – not only top players, players across all rankings, across all fields

“We tend to forget how little is the number of people that (make a living) from this sport.

“If we want to nurture the future, have the players thrive from this sport, not

just survive, and if we also want to increase or improve the sport as a whole and increase the number of the kids who want to enroll themselves into a journey of becoming a professional tennis player.”

Djokovic called the current tennis hierarchy “very fragmented.”

“It’s already complex enough. how the structure is set and how we are regulated. Let’s see and let’s learn also from golf, a good example of professional individual global sport that has been through and is still

going through very challenging times in terms of the
governance and splitting tours and players.

“It’s not one or two things that are happening this tournament …overall there are a lot of rumors, a lot of sentiment on what is happening in terms of the changes in sport.

“I think it’s something inevitable, so hopefully we’re going to be able to do it with least turbulence possible.”