In time, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) – the new body Novak Djokovic hopes will give players more representation and a greater voice – may well become a genuine force. But if the world No 1, who on Monday begins his quest for a sixth Wimbledon title and a record-equalling 20th grand slam title, was hoping Friday’s PTPA press conference would be the talk of the town at the All England Club, it seems not.
Djokovic, who, with the Canadian player Vasek Pospisil, a doubles champion in 2014 at Wimbledon and ranked No 66 in the singles, cofounded the PTPA at the US Open last year, said he had spoken to Serena Williams about it and that many women players had committed their support to the organisation.
But on Saturday, as the players completed their pre-tournament media commitments, it seemed many players are still in the dark and did not know anything about the latest developments.
“I haven’t spoken to Novak,” the women’s world No 1, Ashleigh Barty, said, while last year’s French Open champion, Iga Swiatek, one of the smartest women on Tour, said she had not been approached.
On Friday, Djokovic said many people who supported the PTPA and its aims had not wanted their names made public for fear of criticism. “We are also being respectful of the identities of who signed on at this stage,” he said.
“We’ve had some feedback and from certain players that fear retribution, which is something that we have to take very seriously as well and something that we have to be thoughtful about.”
Alexander Zverev, the No 4 seed for this year’s event, said he had not known anything about a press conference. But the German gave Djokovic credit for helping players as a whole when in his position, as the world No 1, he doesn’t have to.
“It’s great that the top players are getting involved and … want a better future for tennis. I’m not a politician. I’m not really aware of a lot of things that are happening.
“[But] from a player perspective it’s great that someone like Novak Djokovic, who is the world No 1 and has 19 grand slam titles and all that, you can see that he cares about the sport and you can see that he’s trying to do everything he can, from his point of view, that is going to improve this sport.
“So [in that] regard, I do give him a lot of credit. I cannot go into details because simply I don’t know the details and I don’t know what the bigger picture is, the bigger plan is.”
