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 physique exterior the ATP’s ambit has had a gingerly existence.
Establishing the manager committee, inclusion of girls gamers (like Ons Jabeur and Paula Badosa) and the appointment of a full-time government director (Ahmad Nassar), all took time till 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 gamers’ wants in distinction to the ATP which balances the pursuits of each gamers and tournaments, is already making “big strides.”
At the beginning of 2023, ATP introduced a 60% improve in whole prize cash (from $13.2m in 2022 to a document $21.1m). Pospisil felt that it was due to PTPA strain.
“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 government committee member, stated 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 stated that the ATP had nonetheless not warmed as much as the PTPA. But the group, which has additionally discovered help from India’s Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal, is aiming excessive and is taking a look at tackling points past simply prize cash.
“There is mental health…what to do after your career, financial planning, insurance etc,” the previous World No. 25 stated. “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.”