"I don't see them as a threat, and I may be in the minority" - Novak Djokovic earns Australian Open director's respect for forming PTPA

Australian Open director Craig Tiley recently expressed his views on the Novak Djokovic-led Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and whether the independent players body could cause division among the top ranks of the sport.

Novak Djokovic formed the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) in 2020. The Serb said at the time that both top and lower-ranked tennis players deserved a more equitable share of the revenue that the professional tournaments generated.

While many players have sided with Djokovic on the issue, the 36-year-old's move to create a player union was not received kindly by the ATP. The men's governing body has even gone as far as to infer that the PTPA was 'a threat to tennis.'

"The creation of a separate player entity provides a clear overlap, divides the players, and further fragments the sport," the ATP wrote in a statement in 2021. "Fragmentation has been consistently identified as the single biggest threat to tennis’ growth potential by leading experts..."

In that context, Tiley was asked to give his thoughts on the players organization while appearing on "Rock n Roll Tennis Podcast". The 61-year-old asserted that the Djokovic-led outfit wasn't a threat, while also insisting that tournament directors and players should work together to safeguard the latter's financial interests.

"Our relationship with PTPA is similar to any organization in tennis - it's one of support. I don't actually see them as a threat, and I may be in the minority saying that. I see there is a way to be cooperative," he said.

Tiley added that he admired Djokovic & Co. for wanting to effect positive change. He said:

"And at the end of the day, I did have respect for players who put their hands up and really advocated for the players. Vasek Pospisil's down there, Novak's down there, I think it's good."

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"All the players get to have a voice" - Craig Tiley on why Djokovic forming the PTPA is a good initiative

Novak Djokovic and Craig Tiley (R) pictured together at the Australian Open

Tiley also admitted that the current tennis bureaucracy left a lot to be desired while insisting that tournament representatives need to look out for the players.

"The PTPA, is it a bad thing? No, all the players get to have a voice... It's something that was always kinda out informally, now it's out formally. Some things needs to be improved, some things need to be better, they sit down and talk about it," he remarked.

Novak Djokovic creating the PTPA possibly led the ATP to recently come up with a few new schemes to protect the pros' livelihoods. Earlier this year, the men's governing body updated their pension plan, which will provide income to eligible players for 20 years from the age of 50.

Last month, the ATP also revealed that it will provide minimum wages to the top 250 men's singles players from 2024 onwards. According to the "Baseline" scheme, the top 100 players will receive a minimum of $300,000, players ranked in the 101-175 range will receive $150,000, and players ranked in the 176-250 range will receive $75,000.