The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) has filed papers taking legal action against the ATP and WTA tours claiming “anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare”. In the 163-page document, Holger Rune was cited on several occasions, with fans claiming that he has been thrown under the bus.
The complaint is brought by the PTPA and 12 players, including the union’s co-founder Vasek Pospisil and Nick Kyrgios. The PTPA says it is acting “on behalf of the entire player population”. In the document, the PTPA claimed that rules outlawing players from competing in exhibitions or non-governing body-sanctioned events during Grand Slam events should be outlawed.
They suggest that those eliminated in the early stages of Wimbledon and the French, Australian and US Opens should be able to play elsewhere during the second week.
Doing so would allow the opportunity for those outside of the high rankings to play for big money rather than watch their rivals do so at Majors, but the PTPA cited Rune as an instance of a player getting such a benefit.
The footnote states: “For example, Holger Rune played at the Six Kings Slam, the only player invited to the Saudi Arabian exhibition who had never won a Grand Slam, and the only player ranked outside the ATP top 10. However, Rune has ‘long been touted as a future rival for Sinner and Alcaraz’.”
However, Rune is a former world No. 4 and made over £9million in earnings at the age of 21. He has played against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on countless occasions and may take issue with the idea he would be the type of player to benefit greatly from such a change, as he would be eyeing the latter stages of Slams.
The matter is part of a wider PTPA criticism of the governing bodies, with the document criticising the schedule, ranking systems and players’ lack of control over their own image rights.
In response to the PTPA’s lawsuit, which is seeking to end the “monopolistic control” of tennis while seeking financial compensation, the ATP Tour “strongly rejects the premise of the PTPA’s claims”. In a statement, they declared that the case is “entirely without merit” and vowed to “vigorously defend” the current state of affairs.
The WTA, which governs the women’s tour, also denounced the legal action and described it as “both regrettable and misguided”.
They added: “Contesting this baseless legal case will divert time, attention, and resources from our core mission to the detriment of our players and the sport as a whole.”