Tennis Players’ Association Calls for Legal Aid Fund for Suspected Dopers

The Professional Tennis Players Association is asking the Grand Slams and two main tours to pay for a legal defence fund for athletes.

The PTPA was created in 2019 and aims to increase player power within the sport.

It believes the four majors, the men’s ATP Tour and women’s WTA Tour should fund access to third-party lawyers, so financial resources are not a barrier to a speedy and authoritative defence.

It would – they argue – make the system fairer for all players regardless of their ranking.

The PTPA was co-founded by Novak Djokovic, who raised this topic at the recent US Open.

Some players have raised questions about the speed in which a resolution was reached in the case of Italy’s Jannik Sinner .

World number one Sinner twice tested positive for the steroid clostebol in March, but was cleared of fault or negligence by an independent panel.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has lodged an appeal against the decision to clear the Italian of blame, believing the independent panel’s findings were “not correct under the applicable rules”.

It has asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) to set aside the decision and ban Sinner for between one and two years.

The PTPA says it was set up to “support, protect and advance players’ well-being on and off the court”.

It has so far had a fractious relationship with tennis’ established powers and has not been able to get into the room where key decisions are made.