PTPA states they are close to settlement with Tennis Australia over lawsuit sent in March

The Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA) is coming close to a settlement with Tennis Australia over a lawsuit filed against a number of the sport's governing bodies seeking reforms.

This was said by the lawyers who for the advocacy group said on Wednesday. The PTPA filed a class-action lawsuit in March. This was targeted by saying the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and International Tennis Integrity Agency had completed 'anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare.'

While the PTPA thought they had a strong case, it was not looked through the same lenses as the ATP and the WTA. The ATP claimed in March that it 'strongly rejects the premise of the PTPA's claims' and described the case as 'entirely without merit,' while the WTA called it as a 'baseless legal case which will divert time, attention and resources from our core mission to the detriment of our players and the sport as a whole.'

On Wednesday, the PTPA sent a letter to the United States Southern District Court in New York. This was to give an update stating that there had been some worthwhile talks with the organisers from the Australian Open. The event in Melbourne commences from 12th January-1st February.

"Plaintiffs and Tennis Australia are engaged in substantive and productive bilateral settlement discussions and believe that a settlement as to plaintiffs' claims against Tennis Australia is likely in the near future," the PTPA's lawyers wrote. "Accordingly, plaintiffs and Tennis Australia respectfully request that this court enter an order staying all proceedings and deadlines in the case that pertain to Tennis Australia while the parties finalise their agreement."

The PTPA, co-founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisi in 2020, is a player-led organisation looking to advocate for professional tennis players. There has already been tension between the PTPA the men's and women's tour. There have been concerns over prize money and scheduling and the number of events already on the calendar, with many big names in the sport coming out and publicly lambasting the organisations as they strive for a fairer sport. It is not just for them, but throughout the whole of the tennis ladder whatever step you compete at.

"The goal is not to litigate this to the end," the PTPA's executive director Ahmad Nassar told BBC Sport in March. "We are absolutely prepared to do that, but that's not what we actually need or want. What we want is to get everybody to the table to reform the sport the way that many of them have already spoken about."