‘My values and approach are no longer aligned’: Novak Djokovic quits PTPA union he co-founded ahead of 2026 season

Tennis: 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic on Monday announced his decision to quit the Professional Tennis Players Association that he co-founded earlier this decade along with Vasek Pospisil.

Novak Djokovic has abandoned the PTPA players union ahead of the 2026 Australian Open. (Reuters)Novak Djokovic has abandoned the PTPA players union ahead of the 2026 Australian Open. (Reuters)
2 min readJan 5, 2026 09:27 AM IST First published on: Jan 5, 2026 at 09:27 AM IST

Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic announced on Monday that he has decided to quit the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), which he co-founded, due to issues with “transparency and governance” within the players’ union.

The 38-year-old Djokovic and Canadian tennis player Vasek Pospisil had established the breakaway PTPA in 2019. In March 2025, the organisation initiated a lawsuit against the ATP and the WTA, the primary governing bodies of tennis, alleging monopolistic behaviour and a failure to protect player health. Both the ATP and the WTA denied the claims and expressed their intent to fight the legal challenge.

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The 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, however, had maintained his distance and did not fully agree with the PTPA’s stance at the time before ending his association in full through his latest social media post.

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