'Tone deaf' Djokovic move slammed by legend

Novak Djokovic's move for a breakaway players association in tennis has been slammed as "tone deaf" by Australian great Todd Woodbridge.

Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil are leading a move to create the Professional Tennis Players Association, a rebel group separate from the ATP. Djokovic resigned as ATP Players' Council president to pursue the move.

The PTPA would exclude women, a decision that Woodbridge said would doom it to failure in a sport where equality reigns.

Djokovic and Pospisil both attempted to defend their actions on Sunday (AEST) but Woodbridge said that the move was indefensible, especially in the climate currently facing tennis. Woodbridge's criticism joins that levelled by Djokovic's fellow tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

https://twitter.com/VasekPospisil/status/1299861422453780480?s=20

"Crazy times, there's no doubt about that," Woodbridge said on Sports Sunday.

"Let me just start by saying this is tone deaf by the group that have decided to break away. The ATP is the players' representation, they've got their seat at the table; they want more, they want more control of that.

"It's just poor judgment at this time. Everybody's losing jobs, millions are out of work, tournaments are struggling to stay up and afloat, and the tour's been trying for the last six months to get back.

"This is the first week back and they throw this sort of bomb out there? I'm pretty disappointed with the way that they've gone with that timing.

"But there's the biggest downfall of all and that's ... where are the women? If you're going to do this, tennis is the one sport that's united in the world, with equal prize money, our majors are played together.

"We are better and stronger as one and we're not standing up to that. This group has totally missed the mark on an opportunity to bring everybody together and I think that's going to be their downfall."

Woodbridge said that the off-court politics could damage Djokovic's bid for an 18th Grand Slam title at the US Open. Djokovic will chase the New York crown with Federer and Nadal absent and just won the lead-up tournament, the Western and Southern Open.

"He's by far and away the best player at the moment and it's his to lose, really," Woodbridge said.

"He can try and deflect all the pressure that he wants but he really is the best player. He's creating a lot of interest because there's a lot of off-court stuff going off too that's going to make it hard for him to keep focused as we get into the US Open."

It's not the first time that world No.1 Djokovic has been accused of poor judgment during the COVID-19 affected 2020 season.

Djokovic and several other top players contracted coronavirus during his ill-fated Adria Tour, which was held amid the pandemic without social distancing and saw players partying in nightclubs while not playing.

Djokovic denied that his latest venture would aim to create major upheaval in tennis.

"We are not calling for boycotts. We are not forming parallel tours," he said.

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