Federal judge warns ATP to stop threatening players who are part of lawsuits

A federal judge in New York gave a strong judgment against the ATP in lawsuits filed by players and other organisations. Two months ago, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and 22 players filed a complaint against the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation ( ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency ( ITIA) on charges of anticompetitive business practices, monopolising professional tennis, and systemic abuse.

The list of players who filed the complaint includes Nick Kyrgios of Australia, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, Reilly Opelka of America, current world number 76 Corentin Moutet, and 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil.

In the lawsuit, the players and the PTPA accused the WTA, ATP, ITF, and ITIA of working together as a ‘cartel’ to reduce competition and fix prize money. The report further stated that the suits had been filed in the United Kingdom (UK), European Union, and United States district courts. Later, one of the complainants, Britain’s Jay Clarke, decided to withdraw from the list.

The story took a dramatic turn as the case reached a federal judge, where the players who were part of the lawsuit accused the ATP of using threatening measures against them. In the judgment that was reported by Sportico, the ‘U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett partially granted a motion concerning class action communications’.

The complainant's plea was that ATP officials threatened players who were involved in the lawsuit. The counsel of the complainants stated that one player, who was forced to sign a letter to denounce the lawsuit, denied the request and instead tried to take a photo of the document that was presented to him. In response, the ATP official threatened the player with reducing wages and pensions.

Judge Garnett stated: “As a practical matter, male professional tennis players have no other way to make a living in their field, other than by participating in the ATP tours and Grand Slam tournaments, and even then, most players are struggling to make ends meet.”

Garnett further wrote that players are in danger of suffering ‘serious economic loss’ if they fall into the bad books of the ATP. “If a player were to fall out of ATP’s good graces and ATP terminated his membership, be denied a chance to make a living as a pro tennis player."