ATP won’t admit it, but PTPA is having an impact: Pospisil

The bigger picture: Pospisil added that the PTPA is looking at tackling issues beyond just prize money. | Photo: Sudhakara Jain

Since August 2020, when Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil first sowed the seeds for the formation of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), the breakaway body outside the ATP’s ambit has had a gingerly existence.

Establishing the executive committee, inclusion of women players (like Ons Jabeur and Paula Badosa) and the appointment of a full-time executive director (Ahmad Nassar), all took time until August 2022.

But Pospisil, a former Wimbledon doubles champion and a singles quarterfinalist, feels the Association, which has positioned itself as an organisation that prioritises players’ needs in contrast to the ATP which balances the interests of both players and tournaments, is already making “big strides.”

At the start of 2023, ATP announced a 60% increase in total prize money (from $13.2m in 2022 to a record $21.1m). Pospisil felt that it was because of PTPA pressure.

“They will never admit it…but even three years ago when the new chairman [Andrea Gaudenzi] was coming in, he had no plans for the Challenger level,” Pospisil, a PTPA executive committee member, said on the sidelines of the dafaNews Bengaluru Open.

“He was even openly talking about it [money] being trickle down. So it is for sure the pressure of the Association. It is great that we are already having this impact indirectly and that’s what we want to do.”

The Canadian said that the ATP had still not warmed up to the PTPA. But the group, which has also found support from India’s Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal, is aiming high and is looking at tackling issues beyond just prize money.

“There is mental health…what to do after your career, financial planning, insurance etc,” the former World No. 25 said. “We are looking to build a web of services.

“Personally, the biggest thing that people don’t even know about is life after tennis. Nobody knows about it until they retire and you see all these athletes who have depression. Because they stop playing sport and suddenly they don’t have an identity. It is very common.

“Building a platform for providing some support, even educating some of these players as to what can happen after tennis, that’s a big one for me.”