“Players and tours should unite, not fight” – Alexander Zverev on ATP and PTPA conflict
The German is on the ATP player council and wants to see all parties working together
Imago / Psnewz
ATP player council member Alexander Zverev says that he thinks the PTPA’s lawsuit against the professional tennis tours has some “valuable points” – but he hinted that he does not think going to court is the way to make any changes.
“It’s too early to say what I want to come out of it,” he said at a press conference in Miami.
“Look, I think there are some valuable points, for sure. But I think that players and tours should unite and not fight, you know?
“I don’t know what their main goal is. I don’t know what they want to come out of it. I think for the ATP Tour, which is a very healthy tour – the ATP Tour has resources. Maybe [the court case is] going to cost a lot of money, but the tour will not disappear.
“I think it’s very dangerous for the WTA Tour because they’re more fragile. They don’t have the resources that maybe the ATP Tour has to fight this.”
He refused to be drawn into detailing specifics that he thought the tennis tours could improve, but added: “I think there are some things that the tours can do better. That’s why I’m in the player council.
Again, I think the tours should more unite and kind of be together with the players and listen to the players, listen to the opinions of the players, which basically are the tour.”
Zverev: Players’ health should come first
He suggested that in recent years, the tennis tours had become more focused on business, rather than players’ interests, which they had initially had as founding interests.
“There are issues that we’ve talked about. Scheduling is one of them. Extended tournaments are another. Profit sharing. To be honest, I think the tours are doing an okay job with that. I think it’s more the Grand Slams that we have to look at in that regard.
“But I think in the last 15 to 20 years, the tour has become, the ATP has become more of a business structure where they look at, okay, the tournaments are maybe more important than the players.
I’m not sure that’s right. The players’ health should still come first. Longevity of a career should still come first.
“There are things that, yeah, you can still improve, you can still work on. That’s why I am in the player council. I really believe that we together with the ATP and together with the people that are on top who can actually decide of what direction the tour goes in, we can improve.”
