Former world No. 1 Stan Smith tells CNN Sports it is “unfortunate” that tennis seems to be experiencing “a lot of the same issues we had back 50 years ago.”
His comments come after the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA), the tennis players’ association co-founded by Novak Djokovic, filed multiple lawsuits around the world against the sport’s tours and governing bodies.
The suits allege the “monopolization” of men’s and women’s tennis and the “disregard” of player interests, accusing the governing organizations of operating “as a cartel.”
The ATP and WTA both disagreed with the lawsuit and said in statements they would defend their positions “vigorously.”
“It’s unfortunate that you have a group of players that are in the Players’ Association, not only ATP but the WTA,” Smith tells CNN. “The ITF has always been the elephant that has been so powerful but trying to control the game.
“So I understand that part, but it’s really unfortunate to see the players not able to work it out. Some of the things they’re asking for have been things that have been improved dramatically, over the conditions of play, certainly the prize money has grown.
“There’s concern about the amount of prize money at the major tournaments and that, I think, could be negotiated to a certain extent.
“Obviously the ITF, the grand slam events are the ones that have the most money,” Smith adds, “and the players are important to those events, and those events are important to the players. So I hope there’s a compromise there in this whole situation.”
Last week, French sports outlet L’Équipe reported that the top-20-ranked male and female players cosigned a letter to organizers of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open requesting a “substantial increase” in prize money.
Qinweng Zheng, the women’s singles gold medalist at last year’s Paris Olympics, called the letter a “really positive” step for the sport.
Smith, who became an icon in both the tennis and fashion world after having an Adidas sneaker named after him, certainly knows a thing or two about player power.
In 1968, star tennis players began leaving what was then an amateur sport and defecting to the professional circuit, which meant they would no longer be eligible to compete in the amateur-only grand slams.
However, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) eventually relented after much turmoil and the Open Era was born.
Five years later, Smith arrived at Wimbledon as the defending champion after winning the title in 1972. It was the pinnacle of his career.
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