An antitrust lawsuit co-led by Canadian player Vasek Pospisil's Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) will proceed after a United States federal judge denied motions to dismiss it. The ruling allows the case against the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, and the organisers of three Grand Slam tournaments to advance to the next phase, according to a report from Tennis Majors.
What did the court decide?
The case will move forward into the discovery stage. On September 30, Judge Margaret M. Garnett of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a 66-page opinion denying six separate motions filed by the defendants, as reported by Tennis Majors. The motions sought to have the case dismissed, reduced in scope, or moved to a different jurisdiction. This decision is procedural and does not represent a ruling on the merits of the players' claims.
Who are the parties in the lawsuit?
The plaintiffs include the PTPA, which was co-founded by Vasek Pospisil, and 15 current and former players. Other players named in the suit include Nick Kyrgios, Tennys Sandgren, and Saisai Zheng. The defendants are the primary governing bodies of professional tennis: the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the Fédération Française de Tennis (Roland-Garros), the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon), and the United States Tennis Association (US Open).
Have any defendants been removed?
Yes, three organisations are no longer part of the case. Tennis Australia, which organises the Australian Open, settled with the plaintiffs on undisclosed terms and is no longer a defendant, according to Tennis Majors. The International Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Integrity Agency were also dropped from the lawsuit when the players filed an amended complaint in June 2025.
What happens next?
The lawsuit now enters the discovery phase, a standard step in legal proceedings. During this stage, the defendants will be required to provide documents and give sworn evidence related to the allegations in the complaint. The judge's recent ruling was based on the legal sufficiency of the players' complaint, assuming their allegations to be true for the purpose of the motions. The factual claims have not yet been tested in court.
Sources
- Tennis Majors: Six arguments, six answers: how a New York judge kept the PTPA case alive. Tennis Majors, 2026-10-03.
Reported from public sources.