The Professional Tennis Players Association has requested leave to add the governing bodies of tennis’ four Grand Slams — Tennis Australia, the All England Lawn Tennis Club, French Tennis Federation and USTA — as defendants in its antitrust suit against the ATP and WTA tours in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of N.Y.
In March the PTPA and player plaintiffs first filed suits in N.Y., London and Brussels, which allege the disparate bodies that run professional tennis had conspired to eliminate competition and form a monopoly. At the time, the Grand Slam governing bodies were listed only as co-conspirators with the defendants the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, International Tennis Federation and International Tennis Integrity Agency. In the months since, the PTPA has dropped the ITF and ITIA from the suit in N.Y., and in June notified the court that it would abstain from adding the Grand Slams for 90 days as they engaged in settlement discussions that would address issues raised in the suit without court intervention. The PTPA’s self-imposed deadline to consummate or cease those discussions was Monday. The association submitted an amended complaint to the court that would add the Grand Slams as defendants Monday evening.
The PTPA stressed in filings that the addition of the Grand Slams as defendants does not modify the substance of its claims against the ATP and WTA tours, which have each filed motions to dismiss or transfer the case (that are pending). The PTPA’s latest amended complaint — its second since the initial complaint in March — is also pending the court granting leave to be filed.
The PTPA is being represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges and former Weil partner Jim Quinn. The ATP Tour is being represented by Proskauer and the WTA Tour by Latham & Watkins. Spokespeople for the USTA, AELTC, FFT and Tennis Australia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.