Novak Djokovic has been called out over his vague comments about the \u201cbig monopoly\u201d in tennis with former world No 1 Andy Roddick also unimpressed with the tennis great\u2019s Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA).<\/p>\n
24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic<\/a> and Canadian player Vasek Pospisil launched the PTPA on the eve of the 2020 US Open<\/a> with the aim to take the fight to the ATP and other oganisations to demand a greater share of prize money and improved player welfare.<\/p>\n Following the announcement, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray<\/a> were all critical of the decision to form a breakaway union, but they have since retired and several players \u2013 including the likes of John Isner, Paola Badosa, Ons Jabeur and Hubert Hurkacz \u2013 have since joined the PTPA.<\/p>\n But the association has to date not had much success in terms of forcing change as the lengthy schedule and prize money at tournaments continue to be topics of debate with no solution on the table.<\/p>\n Roger Federer\u2019s ex-coach says Novak Djokovic\u2019s retirement will be \u2018bad news\u2019 for his rivals<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Jannik Sinner ranks 10 tennis GOATS, ft. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n During the recent Joy Forum in Saudi Arabia, Djokovic took aim at the powers that be as he spoke of \u201cbig monopoly\u201d and added that \u201cthe system is the way that it is\u201d.<\/p>\n But Roddick believes his remarks were ambiguous and stated on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast: \u201cWhen he talks about monopoly, what exactly does he mean: the monopoly of the circuit? The Grand Slams monopoly? All of that at once? He mentions the \u2018system.\u2019 Which specific system is he referring to? He speaks of \u2018monopoly,\u2019 but, a monopoly of what?\u201d<\/p>\n The full quote from Djokovic states: \u201cIn our sport, it is a big monopoly that has been there for decades. That was the biggest inspiration for me and my college Vasek Pospisil, my fellow tennis player, we founded the Professional Tennis Players Association.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we have the PTPA, but we still don\u2019t have the voice at the table where the decision are being made. That\u2019s the downside of our sport and the way it is structured. The system is the way that it is.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always looking for a place where there is innovation and thankfully with my achievements, I have a platform and a mic in my hand and I can say certain things that will hurt a lot of people and disturb along of chairs. But I don\u2019t care. At the end of the day, I love this sport. This sport has given me everything in my life, so I want to give it back.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat can I do for the players? How can I personally engage in some changes so we can force that, in a right way.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people are going to oppose that, they are not going to like it, but I can sleep well knowing I\u2019m doing something good and my heart is in the right place.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fire just keeps going in me. As long as you live, as long as you breathe, you want to make this world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his \u201cquestions\u201d, Roddick feels Djokovic remains a \u201ctrue leader\u201d, but he also warns that the PTPA doesn\u2019t represent everyone as he questioned their success so far.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be frank, I think Novak has very good intentions. The players and the locker room, in general, adore him and recognise him as a true leader in this sport,\u201d the American added.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, if he wants to voice certain things, let\u2019s speak the truth. This issue has been going around for a long time. Yes, I believe there should be a players\u2019 union, but I think it\u2019s the players who should decide who represents them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t create a union and claim to represent everyone; that\u2019s not how it works, and certainly it hasn\u2019t worked that way for the PTPA.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Novak Djokovic\u2019s \u2018monopoly\u2019 comment sparks \u2018speak the truth\u2019 reaction from Andy Roddick<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Novak Djokovic has been called out over his vague comments about the \u201cbig monopoly\u201d in tennis with former world No 1 Andy Roddick also unimpressed with the tennis great\u2019s Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic and Canadian player Vasek Pospisil launched the PTPA on the eve of the 2020 US Open […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Novak Djokovic News<\/h2>\n
What Exactly Did Djokovic Say?<\/h2>\n
Roddick\u2019s PTPA Reservations<\/h2>\n