"I feel like we don't get heard": Nick Kyrgios reveals reason behind PTPA, 22 players lawsuits against WTA, ATP, ITIA and ITF for systemic abuse

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has revealed the reason behind the recent lawsuit filed against the governing bodies in tennis by the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and 22 players for systematic abuse.

The 29-year-old was perhaps the most high-profile on the list, who, along with the PTPA, filed complaints against the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation (ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on Tuesday on charges of anticompetitive business practices, monopolizing professional tennis, and systemic abuse.

He was accompanied by the likes of America’s Reilly Opelka, current world number 76 Corentin Moutet, and 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil. In the report that was published by ESPN yesterday, the executive director of PTPA, Ahmad Nassar, was quoted where he claimed that the system is ‘broken’. "Tennis is broken," he said. “Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety."

Kyrgios has recently spoken to Sky Sports where he explained the reason behind the lawsuits filed in the United Kingdom (UK), European Union, and United States district courts. The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up questioned the reason behind ATP having so much power and also revealed that players on the tour are not happy with what they have earned compared to other sports.

"I mean, we're the only sport in the world that doesn't have a players' association. So, PTPA's first kind of goal was to get the players to be heard,” he said. “I feel like we don't get heard. For instance, we use different balls pretty much every week, like things that shouldn't be happening in an absolute-high professional sport at the top level. Of course, but I mean that's why ATP has so much power. And they don't show anything to anyone. This will have to change, they'll have to change things, how things are operated. I don't think players have ultimately been happy with what they've earned on tour comparitively to other sports," he said. "I think that's one of the main reasons also."