Alcaraz clueless on Djokovic lawsuit

MIAMI (AFP) — Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz pushed back on a lawsuit against the ATP Tour filed by the Novak Djokovic-led tennis players union on Wednesday, saying he does not support the move.

The Spaniard world No. 3, speaking ahead of the Miami Open, said he had not been given any notice of the legal case from the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) or the strongly-worded statement issued on Tuesday.

“Honestly, it was surprising for me, because nobody told me anything about it, so I was just, yesterday, I saw it on social media,” Alcaraz said.

The PTPA filing cites an Alcaraz quote from a press conference in which he criticized the tour schedule and the player said he was not aware of that decision.

“I saw that there were some statements that they put something that I said in a press conference, which I didn’t know. I don’t support that letter, that, I don’t support that, because, as I said, I didn’t know anything about it,” he added.

Alcaraz said he had mixed opinions about the nature of the complaint which is a wide-ranging critique of the way the sport is run by the ATP and the WTA Tour.

“There are some things that I agree with, there are some other things that I’m not agreeing with, but the main thing here is that I’m not supporting that, so that’s it,” he said.

The PTPA was set up by Djokovic and Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in 2020. Some 20 players were named as part of at least one of the actions.

“The lawsuits expose systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare that have persisted for decades,” said the PTPA statement.

“The ATP, WTA, ITF and ITIA operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices.”

The ATP and WTA, along with the International Tennis Federation and the tennis integrity body ITIA, all defended themselves against the claim and rejected the charges.