Thread by @BenRothenberg, Breaking details:Top men's players, led by Djokovic, Pospisil, are breaking away from [...]

Breaking details:

Top men's players, led by Djokovic, Pospisil, are breaking away from ATP to form the Professional Tennis Players Association.

Djokovic, Pospisil, Isner resigning from player council.

From me for @NYTSports, with @christophclarey: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/sports/tennis/tennis-union-men-djokovic.html

Djokovic and Top Men’s Players Are Creating a Players Association

It is not clear whether the group will operate like a union, although it was billed that way to get players to join. Women are not being included.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/sports/tennis/tennis-union-men-djokovic.html

In a letter pleading with ATP players to reconsider, ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi framed the Professional Tennis Players Association as an existential threat to ATP, which has existed as a cooperative structure with power shared between players and tournaments.

Last year Pospisil spoke frequently and eagerly about the opportunity to include WTA players as he envisioned a new players association that would serve as a sort of union.

The PTPA, however, is men-only, formed solely in opposition to ATP.

From 2019: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/sports/tennis/grand-slam-prize-money.html

In Tennis, Men and Women Are United in Looming Prize-Money Fight

The players’ battle for a bigger piece of the pie at Grand Slam events is not a new one. What distinguishes the latest campaign is that it is a joint effort by men and women.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/sports/tennis/grand-slam-prize-money.html

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