Novak Djokovic is planning to get Carlos Alcaraz alone “for a few hours” so they can talk about the state of tennis. The Serb co-founded the Professional Tennis Players Association three years ago and is now trying to get his rival on his side in his fight for players’ rights.
Djokovic has been tackling an extra project alongside his tennis for the last few years. A former president of the ATP Player Council, the world No 2 resigned in 2020 and set up the PTPA with fellow player Vasek Pospisil during the US Open three years ago.
According to the PTPA website, the organisation is “dedicated to uniting and mobilising tennis players in order to create transparency and equity throughout professional tennis.” Their association has been gaining momentum, with the likes of Ons Jabeur and Hubert Hurkacz joining their executive committee.
And Djokovic is now trying to get the backing of his rival Alcaraz as he hopes to have a chat with the world No 1. “I haven’t done it with Carlos yet, but I’ve been planning to,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion told Forbes of his plans to have the Spaniard support the PTPA.
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Djokovic also revealed that he had already briefly spoken with the world No 1 in Cincinnati following their epic three-set final as they made plans for a round of golf. He continued: “We’ve been facing each other too much on the court and we haven’t had a chance to relax a little bit.
“We did kind of have a funny little talk after the finals of Cincinnati and we’re going to play a golf round together eventually so maybe that’s going to be an ideal few hours for me to spend with him and have a little chat.”
Even before co-founding the PTPA, Djokovic had a history of standing up for lower-ranked players. When the tennis tours were suspended for several months during the Covid pandemic in 2020, he called on his fellow pros to donate any money they could to a relief fund for their colleagues who were struggling financially.
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Speaking during an Instagram Live with Fabio Fognini at the time, Djokovic said: “I feel that the players should show the solidarity and show the unity in this moment, show these lower-ranked players that we do not forget about them.”
And the world No 2’s calls for better financial security have worked as the ATP recently announced their new ‘Baseline’ programme which provides minimum wage and injury pay schemes for those ranked inside the world’s top 250.
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