Wimbledon and the three other grand slam tournaments are willing to make concessions to the players in an attempt to resolve a dispute over prize money, pensions and player representation.
The Guardian has learned that during discussions with representatives of several top-10 world-ranked men and women players at Wimbledon last week, the All England Club offered to hold talks over creating a player council to give athletes a voice in decisions over scheduling, as well as indicating a willingness to contribute to their pension and healthcare provision for the first time.
The grand slams are also facing potential legal action from the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), the international players’ union set up by Novak Djokovic, who filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, and International Tennis Federation in March, accusing the sport’s governing bodies of suppressing competition, manipulating prize money and imposing a restrictive ranking system on the players.
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The PTPA filed an amended complaint against the tours in New York last week, which included an addendum that they would hold off naming the grand slams as co-defendants. Ahmad Nassar, the PTPA chief executive, said that they have since held productive discussions with the grand slams and expressed confidence they can reach an agreement.
“We filed a 180-page amended complaint, but we also filed a one-page letter about our talks with the grand slams, saying that we want 90 days to continue those discussions,” Nassar said. “Ninety days is the timeline in the letter we filed with the court that said that we’re holding off on naming the grand slams as defendants in our court case. We’ve been having productive discussions with them about resolving the issues that we outlined in the 180-page complaint.
“The one page to me means far more than 180 pages. That’s the window to really roll up our sleeves and address the issues over the schedule, player representation, and compensation.”
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