It was ridiculous to hear that the rewards for the players were free suitcase and access to airport lounge.
All tennis professionals will have round-the-clock access to free medical expertise under a programme launched this week by the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) which aims to level the playing field in healthcare.
The PTPA, which was established by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2020, said its MedNet programme, which is available immediately, will connect players to a global network of specialists to give them continuity of care.
Unlike in many sports, tennis players are independent contractors and have had to look out for themselves with respect to healthcare beyond what is provided on-site at tournaments.
Former world number three Dominic Thiem said the programme would have been exactly what he needed when a wrist issue in 2021 stalled his career.
"I had to fend for myself and if you've never had such an injury before, it's always difficult because you naturally don't have contacts with the best doctors," the former U.S. Open champion said via email.
"I was lucky enough to eventually be referred to a specialist through several connections. I was also fortunate that my partner, Redbull, provided superb support.
"But only a few have these circumstances and for players who don't, a doctor provided by the PTPA is a huge help."
Having spent the last 18 months talking to players about the problems they faced, the PTPA found the two topics that came up most frequently were travel and healthcare.
The MedNet service, which is accessible to all players on the circuit, will be overseen by the association's inaugural Medical Director, Robby Sikka.
A 24-7 hotline will be available to players throughout the year, allowing them to come forward with medical concerns, seek opinions or independent secondary opinions in addition to the advice they get from Tour doctors.
Apart from being able to work directly with Sikka, players can also access his SMART platform, which will provide bespoke health tips.
In the case of specific injuries, Sikka will refer players to a doctor in his network and ensure they get fast-tracked appointments before following up to enable a quick recovery.
"This is about making the number one player, the number 10 and the number 200 equal in access to care," Sikka told Reuters in a Zoom call.
"It's saying 'hey, men and women are receiving the same care. It's the same medical director on both sides'. We don't see that in the WNBA, the NBA or many of the other sports."
MAINTAIN CONNECTION
PTPA Executive Director Ahmad Nassar said the service would allow players to maintain a connection with physicians who have proven expertise in specialist areas of healthcare.
"If a player hurts their wrist at a tournament. They would see the on-site doctor for immediate treatment. After that, they leave the tournament city to return home," Nassar said.
"At this point, players are on their own and won't see that doctor until the next year. They may ask agents or other players for referrals to wrist specialists - maybe someone's dealt with something similar in the past?
"Rather than depend on anecdotal advice, MedNet will provide resources and data to help guide players."
Sikka said personalised injury care was vital, pointing out that a young player's needs were likely to be very different from those of a veteran like Rafa Nadal.
"Every person has their own algorithm and their own self-interest that's unique to them," added Sikka.
"When you're a typical doctor, you're saying they're just another person coming through the office. What the PTPA wants to do is get to know every player."
PTPA Deputy Executive Director Romain Rosenberg said the programme, which will be run by funds the PTPA generates through its commercial initiatives, was aimed at supplementing the efforts of the game's various governing bodies.
"We're not here to replace or compete. We're augmentative in everything we do," Rosenberg said.
He added that an improvement in healthcare outcomes was closely aligned with the aims of the PTPA, which was started to better protect the interests of players.
"The 'star' players have access to a certain level of care, but the reality is even the Novak Djokovics and Jannik Sinners don't have at hand all specialists," he added.
"They may sustain an injury that's so specific that they don't have access to that ... at the lower end of the rankings, they rely on local doctors and don't have access to the same level of advice, so we're levelling the playing field."
Equal pay for everyone at all events
Magnus Carlsen is the one to follow if you want to know what the PTPA could and might still do.
Of courseIncluding doubles and wheelchair players?
Every spectator will indeed continue to enjoy the same entertainment value they've come to expect. I understand that PTPA has succeeded in keeping the price of a Honey Deuce at $30 for next year, as they understand some low-income fans simply can't afford to pay any more than that.Equal pay for spectators sounds a good deal.
I assume that the PTPA will become an emergent rival to the existing tours once Novak retires.
Magnus Carlsen is in the process of divorcing FIDE with his billionaire backers.
And, at some stage, Novak had his billionaire backers.
It only exists bc of him lol
Whenever he retires it will be even more useless and irrelevant than it is now
Novak is working on some thingsIf it has any hopes for survival they have to do something while Novak is still playing
I don’t want Novak to leave the legacy of a failed organization .
It only exists bc of him lol
Whenever he retires it will be even more useless and irrelevant than it is now
The reality is tennis is very top heavy in regard to players income. It is hard to surive outside the top 100 as a singles player. Not even sure how doubles players make a living.
As independent contractors, they get a lot of freedom of what they choose to do, but don't get any of the benefits of being an employee or member of a team. They front a lot of travel, coaching and cost of living expenses day by day.
Players need a stronger advocate to get a bigger share of the pie and find a way to distribute it deeper so that a top 400 tennis player can make a living.
The Majors and some of the Masters bring in a lot of money. But I imagine a lot of the smaller tournaments, dont' have as much wiggle room to give as we'd like to think.
Also for smaller tournaments, they have a very short window to generate revenue. People buy their sports teams swag all season if not all year round. But who is buying a Basel T-shirt in the middle of the summer? Or even a Wimbledon towel in the winter?
So tennis has its challenges for the players and the tournaments.
If PTPA could find a way to unionize, it may be able to have some power or create a way for anyone in the top 400 can join and get real medical benefits, maybe stipends for travel to tournaments etc. But current law seems to prevent unioniztion of independent contractors in sport? Until it has that power, PTPA will continue to lack any strength to facilitate real change.
It only exists bc of him lol
Whenever he retires it will be even more useless and irrelevant than it is now
The reality is tennis is very top heavy in regard to players income. It is hard to surive outside the top 100 as a singles player. Not even sure how doubles players make a living.
As independent contractors, they get a lot of freedom of what they choose to do, but don't get any of the benefits of being an employee or member of a team. They front a lot of travel, coaching and cost of living expenses day by day.
Players need a stronger advocate to get a bigger share of the pie and find a way to distribute it deeper so that a top 400 tennis player can make a living.
The Majors and some of the Masters bring in a lot of money. But I imagine a lot of the smaller tournaments, dont' have as much wiggle room to give as we'd like to think.
Also for smaller tournaments, they have a very short window to generate revenue. People buy their sports teams swag all season if not all year round. But who is buying a Basel T-shirt in the middle of the summer? Or even a Wimbledon towel in the winter?
So tennis has its challenges for the players and the tournaments.
If PTPA could find a way to unionize, it may be able to have some power or create a way for anyone in the top 400 can join and get real medical benefits, maybe stipends for travel to tournaments etc. But current law seems to prevent unioniztion of independent contractors in sport? Until it has that power, PTPA will continue to lack any strength to facilitate real change.
For players who don’t dope or those who want to dope without being sanctioned?If there was an alternative tour that did not obey WADA's doping code, but invented its own protocols, then this would be a massive benefit for players.
For players who don’t dope or those who want to dope without being sanctioned?
That's why a mass exodus
Thank you for your patience, oh merciful one!I have been patiently waiting for this organization to deliver something .
IMO tennis really misses a lot of money by not promoting doubles and wheelchair more. Even at the Open they could put the finals on Armstrong and sell tickets.Including doubles and wheelchair players?
You would think so. But it seems most attempts to promote doubles has failed.IMO tennis really misses a lot of money by not promoting doubles and wheelchair more. Even at the Open they could put the finals on Armstrong and sell tickets.
Live doubles is a lot of fun.
Millions of people play pickelball doubles and it’s a fast growing “sport” but it’s virtually unwatchable as a spectator sport.You would think so. But it seems most attempts to promote doubles has failed.
Even in the hayday of the Bryan Brothers, they often played to almost empty stadiums.
It's so weird it doesn't draw more viewers since most people play dubs over singles.
Another breakaway tour is the last thing tennis needs. It’s too divided as it is.If there was an alternative tour that did not obey WADA's doping code, but invented its own protocols, then this would be a massive benefit for players.
I like the way they’ve worked out how to market doubles by emphasising it in team events as a deciding match. It’s a lot of fun at United Cup, you get to see top players involved too, without them needing to make a year round commitment and there are high stakes involved.Look at all the hype Kyrgios and Djoker brought to doubles this past week.
We see clips poppin up all about ti.
Yet, their can be some monster doubles matches that would never pop up on a media feed because it is just doubles players in the line-up.
How many of us can name the top ten doubles players in the world?
I'd recognized them, but I can't name them.
Another breakaway tour is the last thing tennis needs. It’s too divided as it is.
PTPA’s best function would have been to operate as a proper player’s union and put real external pressure on the separate governing bodies in tennis and induce some kind of union with private capital backing.
It would have been very tough to get the players to mobilise en mass, though. Tennis players are sole agents and the powerful ones doing well are very apathetic to organising with other players for change. You needed to have someone way smarter than Novak publicly spearheading this.
…This year the PTPA has issued an ultimatum that unless its demands are concretely met by AO 2025 that “the PTPA and its legal arsenal will take further action.”![]()