The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019, has come in for significant criticism after it threatened legal action against Served, the podcast hosted by former World No. 1 and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick. The legal action specifically implicated Tim Rohan, a freelance reporter who works for the Served podcast and has previously served Sports Illustrated.
In a letter written sent to the podcast’s attorney by aggressive defamation law firm Clare Locke, Djokovic’s departure from the PTPA at the beginning of 2026 stemmed from Rohan’s ‘false and defamatory claims’ about the association. According to the letter, the Serb’s departure was ‘abrupt and highly damaging’ to the PTPA.
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Subsequently, numerous tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) slammed the Novak Djokovic co-founded players association and sided with Andy Roddick.
“They’re guilty as hell, Andy’s a straight shooter we all know tennis is ultra corrupt,” one fan wrote.
“This just means that Andy is doing a great job. PTPA is a scam. Just another money hungry entity that does not care about players at all,” commented another.
“Kudos to Andy Roddick for blowing the whistle. He should be praised,” another fan chimed in.
“Let’s call a spade a spade, the PTPA was created solely on the basis of making more money & more profit. Who for that is the question,” one stated.
“PTPA so bad that Djokovic quit on them, and that guy never quits,” added another.
“We all knew the PTPA was a scam, even Novak left when he saw the 💩 underneath it 👀,” weighed in yet another fan.
“My values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organization” – What Novak Djokovic said after quitting PTPA
In the aftermath of quitting the PTPA, the former No. 1 and 24-time major champion took to social media and announced his decision through multiple posts. In one of them, the Serb wrote:
“I am proud of the vision that Vasek (Pospisil) and I shared when founding the PTPA, giving players a stronger, independent voice – but it has become clear that my values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organization.”
On the tennis front, the 39-year-old is currently preparing for this year’s Cincinnati Open and US Open. His most recent outing came at the Wimbledon Championships, where he reached the semifinals but was then put to the sword by eventual champion and reigning No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Edited by Sudipto Pati
