Novak Djokovic reveals staggering amount of players making a living from tennis: “It’s a really small number”

With the advent of the PTPA, Novak Djokovic has wanted to create an environment to foster change and create a better playing field for players and that continues.

Speaking in a recent interview, he confirmed the staggering lack of players who are making a living off the sport and that tennis suffers also from too many chefs in the kitchen with multiple governing bodies and parties involved trying to work in the interests of players albeit not always successfully.

"In 2020, during the pandemic, we played the US Open in a bubble. It was really strange to compete without a crowd. Pospisil and I created the Professional Tennis Players Association. It is a players' organization, because we feel that tennis players are not represented in the right way,” said Djokovic being interviewed by Jeffrey Katzenberg.

“Obviously I am referring to both men's and women's tennis. There are 400/450 players at the moment. The main mission is to try to increase the number of players who can make a living from tennis. Make sure we have better organizations for future generations.”

"I don't want to be misunderstood: tennis is doing well. It is one of the most popular sports and we are happy to be recognized as great athletes. Many people come to watch the matches or follow us from home on television. Few people know that only 300/400 tennis players, counting men's singles, women's and doubles, can make a living practicing this sport. It's a really small number.

“Many of these do not have a staff: coach, physiotherapist, athletic trainer. They have to do everything themselves. Many travel alone. There are too many governing bodies and, in theory, our organization should already be part of the Tour. We have a Players Council, but there is always a conflict of interest. We want to improve our sport, but we must not forget where we come from.”

"In Serbia, for example, we had a golden era with four world No. 1s in the last 20 years: myself, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Nenad Zimonjic in doubles.For a country with no tennis tradition it was incredible. But it was not the result of a real system. We are children of war and have faced various adversities. I believe this helped us manage difficult moments better.

“Obviously I hope people don't have to go through all this and the experience of war, because it's terrible. But at the same time it makes you appreciate everything you have more, because we grew up without having anything.”