- Lawsuits reveal how tennis’ corrupt governing bodies systemically abuse, silence, and exploit players to drive personal profits through monopolistic control
- Tennis’ governing bodies’ wide-ranging and long-standing illegal practices have harmed players, fans, and the sport, and pose a grave threat to its future
- PTPA’s legal actions backed overwhelmingly by the top 250+ men’s and women’s players including a majority of the Top 20 players
- Players seek a fair, transparent system that prioritizes their rights, health, and safety over the unchecked authority of the sport’s governing bodies, ensuring they receive the same protections and opportunities as professional athletes in other global sports
WASHINGTON, D.C., NEW YORK, LONDON, and BRUSSELS, March 18, 2025 – Following years of good-faith efforts to reform professional tennis, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) has taken decisive legal action. Today, the PTPA, alongside over a dozen professional tennis players, and on behalf of the entire player population, and renowned international law firm and historical player advocates Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP initiated a series of legal actions in the U.S., UK, and EU against the sport’s governing bodies—the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), International Tennis Federation (ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The lawsuits expose systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare that have persisted for decades.
“Tennis is broken,” said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA. “Behind the glamorous veneer that the Defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety. We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts. Fixing these systemic failures isn’t about disrupting tennis—it’s about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come.”
The ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anticompetitive restraints and abusive practices, including:
Collusion to Reduce Competition:
Defendants have entered into agreements and arrangements to suppress competition between and among tournaments that, in a competitive market, could provide players with increased earning opportunities. These illegal restraints enable the cartel to pay artificially low compensation to professional tennis players, eliminate competition amongst themselves, and prevent any potential competitors from entering the market.
Fixing Prize Money and Suppressing Player Earnings:
Defendants collude to cap the prize money that tournaments award and limit players’ ability to earn money off the court, rather than allowing a free market to dictate the amounts that players earn. The legal actions show specifically how Defendants collude and reject tournament owners’ requests to increase prize money, ensuring that the system remains rigged in favor of Defendants.
More than two billion people across 200 countries watched professional tennis matches last year, demonstrating the global passion and demand for the sport and its professional athletes. However, top tennis players earn a fraction of what top athletes in other sports earn. In 2024, the U.S. Open made $12.8 million from selling a single specialty cocktail, which was more than it paid to both singles champions combined. Tennis players are paid only 17% of revenues as compared to other sports like golf, basketball, and American football, which range between 35-50%+.
Ranking Points Mandates:
Defendants impose a draconian system of “Ranking Points” that dictate which tournaments players can compete in, how much compensation they earn, and whether they receive certain sponsorship opportunities. The system funnels players away from any alternative events that could exist in a free market, and forces them to compete only in Defendants’ tournaments if they are to play professional tennis at all.
Forcing an Unsustainable Schedule:
The professional tennis season stretches 11 months of the year, leaving little to no room for players to rest and recover. The unsustainable schedule requires players to travel on their own dime and handle their own logistics to participate in dozens of tournaments across six continents. Spending time with family or recovering from injuries requires forfeiting opportunities to earn a living and earn coveted rankings points.
Disregard for Players:
Last year alone, players were forced to compete in 100-degree heat, endure matches that ended at 3 AM, and play with different and injury-inducing tennis balls depending on the week, leading to chronic wrist, elbow, and shoulder injuries. In Miami, a player collapsed on court in extreme heat, was forced to retire from the match, and spent a night in the hospital recovering. Players are told that this is what comes with the privilege of being a professional tennis player.
Exploiting Players Financially:
Players are forced to sign over their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights for zero compensation, allowing governing bodies to profit from their identities while preventing them from securing certain independent sponsorships, and baselessly limiting the number of sponsors that they may have. Individually and together, these restraints reduce players’ earnings and their ability to negotiate for better working conditions, exclude competitors, and impede the growth of the sport.
Violating Privacy Rights:
Players are subjected to invasive searches of personal devices, random middle-of-the-night drug tests, and interrogations without legal representation. The ITIA has suspended players without due process based on flimsy or fabricated evidence. Players’ phones are confiscated and searched without consent—a gross invasion of privacy which violates the law and further demonstrates the stranglehold the Defendants have over the market.
A Defining Moment for Tennis
“This is not just about money—it’s about fairness, safety, and basic human dignity,” said Vasek Pospisil, PTPA Co-Founder and Executive Committee Member. “I’m one of the more fortunate players and I’ve still had to sleep in my car when traveling to matches early on in my career- imagine an NFL player being told that he had to sleep in his car at an away game. It’s absurd and would never happen, obviously. No other major sport treats its athletes this way. The governing bodies force us into unfair contracts, impose inhumane schedules, and punish us for speaking out. The legal actions taken today are about fixing tennis for today’s players and future generations. It’s time for accountability, real reform, and a system that protects and empowers players. All stakeholders deserve a sport that operates with fairness and integrity.”
Prior to filing the complaints, the PTPA met with more than 250 players across tours, including the majority of the men’s and women’s Top 20 players, to discuss the outcomes of the legal review. The overwhelmingly positive player feedback was a resounding confirmation—change is needed now, and players are united in their fight for reform.
The initiation of legal actions represents a crucial and necessary step toward building a future where professional tennis finally implements accountability and the systemic reform that players vehemently desire, prioritizing the health, safety, and rights of the players who make the sport great. Tennis players are demanding the same protections and fair treatment that athletes in other major sports—like basketball, football, American football, golf, soccer, baseball, and cricket—have fought for and won.
The PTPA remains steadfast in advocating for players’ best interests, holding governing bodies accountable for their failure to act, and ensuring a better future for players, fans, and the sport as a whole.
Statements From Player and PTPA Counsel
Sorana Cirstea, WTA player: “Players don’t have the luxury of waiting indefinitely for meaningful change. Despite repeatedly voicing concerns and speaking up, we have been met with empty promises. The current conditions—demanding schedules, financial uncertainty, and inadequate support—are unsustainable. Legal action is not a first choice, but at this stage, it is necessary to force accountability and ensure long-overdue improvements. Players deserve better and the future generations deserve better. We won’t give up until real change happens!”
Drew Tulumello, Co-Chair of Weil’s global Litigation Department: “Weil is honored to bring this lawsuit seeking enduring, structural change for professional tennis players around the world. For years, the players have been trapped in an unfair system that artificially caps the amount of prize money they can earn, forces them to play whenever and wherever the tours demand, dictates which products they can endorse, and ignores their physical and mental health well-being. The evidence and testimony we will present will be based on expert economic testimony, and player testimony, and will ensure that players finally get a voice in the governance of their sport. It is time for free-market forces to enter professional tennis, and for the players’ voices to be heard.”
Jim Quinn, Co-Lead Counsel and former Chair of Weil’s global Litigation Department: “Professional tennis players face some of the most troubling conditions that I have ever seen. I’ve spent decades working with athletes across global sports, and the complete disregard for tennis players’ welfare by the powers at large is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. The sport is in desperate need of transformation for the good of the athletes and all stakeholders.”
Weil has a long history of advocating for the rights of professional athletes dating back over fifty years. A cross-border Weil team worked closely with the PTPA and these brave player leaders who are standing up to the governing bodies to challenge their monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. Led by Drew Tulumello and Jim Quinn, the current and former Co-Chairs of Weil’s global Litigation Department, respectively, the Weil U.S. team includes partners Luna Barrington and Meagan Bellshaw, and associates Zach Schreiber and Nick Reade, and Weil’s U.K. and EU teams include partners Neil Rigby and Hayley Lund, and counsel Matthew Gibbon and Annagiulia Zanazzo.
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About the Professional Tennis Players Association
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) is a global organization that unites and mobilizes tennis players to foster transparency and fairness in professional tennis. As an independent entity, the PTPA is dedicated to advancing and safeguarding the rights of professional men’s and women’s tennis players throughout their careers. By prioritizing crucial aspects such as health and safety, schedules, rules, purses, benefits, and education, the PTPA endeavors to build an equitable and sustainable competitive environment for present and future generations of players. Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, the PTPA operates on a global scale. For more information, visit www.ptpaplayers.com and connect with @ptpaplayers on social media.
About Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Founded in 1931, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has been a preeminent provider of legal services for more than 90 years. With approximately 1,200 lawyers in offices on three continents, Weil has been a pioneer in the marketplace and a first-mover in the establishment of many significant practice areas. The Firm’s four departments, Corporate, Litigation, Restructuring, and Tax, Executive Compensation & Benefits, and more than two dozen practice groups are consistently recognized as leaders in their respective fields.
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