Kyrgios Justifies PTPA Complaint: "Players Are Not Satisfied with What They Earn"
The PTPA has filed a complaint against professional tennis governing bodies.
The organization founded by Djokovic aims to change the way the men's and women's tours are managed. It criticizes issues such as the schedule, the ranking system, and even the type of balls used.
Nick Kyrgios also contributed to the initiation of this action. The Australian justified his involvement in an interview with Sky Sports:
"I think people have known for a long time that something was happening behind the scenes. Pospisil, Djokovic, and I wanted to do something to change the future of our sport.
I know that players are dissatisfied with everything happening in tennis right now. That's why there is a complaint over 100 pages long, but I don't want to go into the details.
I got involved as much as possible in this action. It happened today, and it's something special for tennis.
Tennis is the only sport that doesn't have a players' association, and that's the primary reason why the PTPA exists. It's our first goal.
All players use different balls practically every week, which shouldn't happen at a professional level. The ATP has so much power, and it shouldn't abuse it.
This is where actions like this will make a difference because you have to show them how things should work. It hasn't been done properly in recent years.
Ultimately, players are not satisfied with what they earn on the tour compared to other sports, and I think that's one of the main reasons."
The Australian is currently in Florida, where he will face McDonald in the first round of the Miami Masters 1000.
McDonald, Mackenzie
Kyrgios, Nick
Tennis is unique among major sports that the balls change just from being used. So much so in tournaments they change to new balls in the middle of a match. With there being multiple manufacturers of tennis balls, tennis needs to set very exact standards for balls used in tournaments. Well, then we have the concept that tennis itself has wanted changes in the balls over time. They used faster balls at the FO to try and help Nadal's competitors. They slowed down the balls at others so players whose primary weapon was a big serve didn't have an advantage in that area. So if the courts are fast at the AO do they slow down the balls and if the courts are slow like at Indian Wells do they speed up the balls?
It seems tennis is a sport where the players have to adjust to the speed of both the courts and the balls and that's part of the game. Either you can do it well or you can't. I don't remember the last time I heard a futbol player carrying on about the speed of the grass on the pitch.