Pospisil: “Since 2016 I knew that tennis needed a change”

Withdrawn since the end of July at his beloved Masters 1000 in Canada, the professional career of Vasek Pospisil wrote its last page with that first-round defeat against Facundo Bagnis. Nearly two decades on the circuit that saw him reach second weeks of Grand Slams, touch the top 40, or conquer the Davis Cup. Now, his horizon will remain tied to tennis, although from a different perspective, one that positions him as one of the main leaders of the PTPA, an organization that safeguards the players’ well-being and aims to provide everything that the ATP does not cover. Always interesting to read about the protagonists on the blog Behind the racquet, that space so well utilized to share some details of his beginnings, unveil the turning points in his path, or emphasize the challenges that they still have to fulfill. Here is the account from our friend Vasek.

“My parents escaped from the communist regime of former Czechoslovakia. I was born a year after they came to Canada, in a small town in Vernon, British Columbia. We didn’t have many resources, but my father’s passion for tennis was very high. From a very young age, tennis was all I ever wanted to do, so I dedicated my entire life to the sport.

The sacrifices were immense. My father quit his job, saved money to invest in my career. When I was young, I never really understood everything around me, but as I reached my early teens, I definitely started to feel that pressure. Never from my parents or family, but from myself. I felt like I had to repay my family for everything they had spent on me.

Throughout my playing career, it’s hard to pinpoint the moment when you realize you’ve made it because you always hope not to be a one-moment tennis player. I had some good results along the way, but if I had to choose a moment, it would be the semifinals of the Montreal Masters. I had built enough confidence to feel that I could win matches on the tour consistently.

The first time I realized we needed a players’ association was after a big joint meeting we had in 2016 at the ATP. It became very clear that tennis needed a change, that players needed a real voice to represent them. Shortly after, I decided that I had to be the one to take the step, I’m not sure why I reached that conclusion, the point is I had the confidence that I could carry it out.

The most important thing I have learned in these past five years was about the tennis system; I saw that it is much more disorganized than I thought. Today, for the first time, I see that we are very close to achieving a significant change, the change we need for players to have that real voice and an ideal scenario for their growth. Tennis has fallen behind other sports, which is why we have been collaborating with some governing bodies all these years. We wanted to give them the chance to work with us, however, to move forward, we had no choice but to do it through a lawsuit.

The ultimate goal is to create an independent voice for the players, this is the main desire stemming from the lawsuit, to help set the stage for everything else: increased prize money and greater involvement in revenue. Having a say in any of these matters that affect our livelihood, such as travel, schedules, balls, or prize money, is very important for us”.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Pospisil: “Desde 2016 supe que el tenis necesitaba un cambio”