The PTPA tennis lawsuit is a sweeping antitrust action filed in March 2025 by the Professional Tennis Players Association and twelve player plaintiffs, accusing the sport’s governing bodies of running a cartel that suppresses prize money, controls players’ schedules, and takes their name, image, and likeness rights without pay. Tennis Australia settled at the end of 2025 and agreed to cooperate against the remaining defendants. The ATP Tour, WTA Tour, and the organizers of Wimbledon, the French Open, and the U.S. Open are still fighting to have the case thrown out.
Who Sued, and What the Case Alleges
The PTPA and twelve players, including co-founder Vasek Pospisil, Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka, and Sorana Cirstea, filed the U.S. complaint on March 18, 2025, in the Southern District of New York.1LawInSport. Break-ing Point: The Antitrust Battle That Could Transform Professional Tennis Parallel complaints went to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority in London and the European Commission in Brussels the same day.2CMS Law. Foot Fault: Alleged Anti-Competitive Practices of Tennis’s Governing Bodies The original defendants were the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
The heart of the complaint is that the governing bodies operate an “unlawful monopsony” over player labor. The PTPA says the tours collude to keep prize money artificially low, pointing to figures that Grand Slam players receive roughly 15 percent of tournament revenue, compared with the 50 percent revenue shares common in the NBA and NFL.3The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Explained The suit also alleges the ranking-point system locks players into a closed circuit of sanctioned events by docking points or fining anyone who skips a “mandatory” tournament to rest or compete elsewhere.4The Race to the Bottom. An Ace or a Whiff: PTPA Adds the Grand Slams to Its Antitrust Lawsuit
Other claims center on player welfare and control. The complaint argues players are classified as independent contractors yet denied the freedom that classification implies, and that the governing bodies require players to sign over their name, image, and likeness rights without compensation.5Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. The PTPA and Tennis Players File Historic Legal Actions Against Governing Bodies The eleven-month calendar, the PTPA says, damages player health while shutting new events out of the market.
The U.S. claims rest on Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The UK complaint invokes the Chapter I and Chapter II prohibitions of the Competition Act 1998, and the EU filing points to Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.6University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review. From Tennis Court to Courtroom: The PTPA’s Global Antitrust Challenge to Tennis Governance
The Grand Slams Get Pulled In
In September 2025 the PTPA filed an amended complaint adding the four Grand Slam organizers as defendants: Tennis Australia, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon), the French Tennis Federation (French Open), and the United States Tennis Association (U.S. Open).7Sports Business Journal. PTPA Adds Grand Slams to ATP, WTA Antitrust Suit The ITF (since rebranded as World Tennis) and the ITIA were dropped from the New York case at around the same time.3The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Explained
The PTPA accused the Slam organizers of conspiring with the tours to “enrich themselves at the players’ expense,” alleging they blocked tournament owners from raising prize money and chose event locations to benefit executives rather than through competitive bidding.4The Race to the Bottom. An Ace or a Whiff: PTPA Adds the Grand Slams to Its Antitrust Lawsuit The French Open and Wimbledon later denied organizational credentials to PTPA members, citing the pending litigation. The PTPA called those denials a coordinated act of retaliation.8Front Office Sports. Wimbledon, French Open PTPA Lawsuit Fight
Tennis Australia Settles and Agrees to Cooperate
In late December 2025, Tennis Australia became the first defendant to break from the group. It reached a settlement with the PTPA without admitting liability or wrongdoing and was dropped from the lawsuit.9The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Tennis Australia Settlement Court filings described the deal as an “ice-breaker” settlement, and the preliminary agreement was filed with the Southern District of New York on January 16, 2026.10Sports Litigation Alert. Tennis Australia Breaks Free From the Pack by Settling in Pro Tennis Antitrust Litigation
Tennis Australia paid no damages to the player class. The concession was cooperation. In exchange for a release from monetary liability, Tennis Australia agreed to hand over internal materials for use against the remaining defendants, covering financial records, tournament prize money data, player NIL rights and uses, sponsorship and endorsement opportunities, tour scheduling requirements, ranking points, player participation in non-tour events, and communications or agreements among the defendants.11The Guardian. Tennis Civil War Erupts With Details of Initial Peace Deal Revealed for First Time Tennis Australia also agreed to pay $50,000 to cover the cost of notifying prospective class members.12Daniel Kaplan (Substack). Tennis Australia to Cooperate In PTPA Antitrust Suit
The settlement class is open to any player who competed in a Grand Slam, ATP, or WTA event since March 18, 2021.12Daniel Kaplan (Substack). Tennis Australia to Cooperate In PTPA Antitrust Suit Cooperation on the ATP and WTA was set to begin after the 2026 Australian Open. Cooperation involving the other three Grand Slams is contingent on the outcome of their pending motions to dismiss. The full settlement still requires final court approval.13Sports Business Journal. PTPA, Tennis Australia Reach Settlement in Antitrust Suit
A source at the WTA called the January 2026 disclosure of the settlement terms an “aggressive move” designed to cause “maximum discomfort” to the remaining governing bodies.11The Guardian. Tennis Civil War Erupts With Details of Initial Peace Deal Revealed for First Time Around the same time, Tennis Australia announced a record prize purse of AU$111.5 million (roughly US$75 million) for the 2026 Australian Open, a 16 percent increase over 2025. CEO Craig Tiley described it as part of a broader AU$135 million investment in the summer of tennis.14Australian Open. Australian Open Announces Record $111.5 Million Prize Pool The PTPA noted the increase still reflected only about a 16 percent revenue share, well short of the 22 percent players have demanded by 2030.15Front Office Sports. Australian Open Announces Record Purse Following PTPA Settlement
Djokovic Leaves the PTPA
Novak Djokovic, who co-founded the PTPA with Pospisil in 2020, announced on January 4, 2026, that he was leaving the organization. He cited “ongoing concerns regarding transparency, governance, and the way my voice and image have been represented,” adding that his “values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organization.”16Tennis.com. Co-Founder Novak Djokovic Exits PTPA
Djokovic was never a named plaintiff in the antitrust litigation. According to The Athletic, he had declined requests to lend his name to the filings because he did not want the dispute perceived as “him against tennis.”17The Athletic (NYT). Novak Djokovic Tennis PTPA Lawsuit His exit still raised questions about the PTPA’s public standing. The PTPA responded by accusing unnamed parties of a “coordinated defamation and witness intimidation campaign” against its staff.18Sports Business Journal. Novak Djokovic Steps Away From PTPA The Athletic reported his departure was not expected to have a “material effect on the possibility of settlements or dismissals for the defendants.”3The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Explained
The Defense: Motions to Dismiss
The defendants have pushed hard to end the case before discovery. In their initial motions, the ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA argued the PTPA lacks standing because it has no formal membership rolls and charges no dues, making it too insubstantial to bring a class action on behalf of professional players.19Yahoo Sports. Pro Tennis Tours File Motion to Dismiss PTPA Lawsuit They also pointed to existing player contracts that route disputes to specific forums: the Court of Arbitration for Sport for ITF matters, Delaware courts for ATP disputes, and the American Arbitration Association for WTA players.20The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Tours Cartel Motion Dismiss
The WTA separately argued that male plaintiffs like Kyrgios and Opelka should not be permitted to sue the women’s tour, and that its female plaintiffs are bound by mandatory arbitration provisions in the WTA rulebook.19Yahoo Sports. Pro Tennis Tours File Motion to Dismiss PTPA Lawsuit More broadly, the defendants say prize money has risen consistently, undercutting any claim that the market for player services is being driven down.
In May 2025, a federal judge issued an early ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor, finding the ATP could not retaliate against players who joined or considered joining the lawsuit.20The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Tours Cartel Motion Dismiss In December 2025 the three remaining Grand Slam defendants filed new motions to dismiss, which were still pending as of January 2026.3The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Explained
Where the Case Stands Now
The remaining defendants are the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the All England Lawn Tennis Club, the French Tennis Federation, and the United States Tennis Association.3The Athletic (NYT). Tennis Lawsuit PTPA Explained The ATP and WTA have called the lawsuit “baseless and misguided.”11The Guardian. Tennis Civil War Erupts With Details of Initial Peace Deal Revealed for First Time None of the remaining defendants had entered settlement negotiations as of mid-2026, according to available reporting.21SportsPro. Tennis Australia PTPA Settlement Deal
The PTPA’s lawyers argue that Tennis Australia’s cooperation will give them access to financial records and internal communications that strengthen the case against the holdouts, and that the deal will “incentivize” others to negotiate. The organization says it has secured litigation funding “sufficient to last through trial.”11The Guardian. Tennis Civil War Erupts With Details of Initial Peace Deal Revealed for First Time The next milestone is the court’s ruling on the Grand Slam defendants’ motions to dismiss, which will determine how much of the case reaches discovery.