Djokovic plays down pay fight talk

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic hosed down suggestions on Tuesday he is pushing to create an independent players union to fight for even more prize money, and denied reports it could lead to tournament boycotts.

British media said the Serbian 12-time Grand Slam winner, president of the ATP Tour player council, had raised the subject at a mandatory player meeting in Melbourne on Friday.The London Times said he took the stage and suddenly asked that ATP officials and any non-players leave the room, bringing in an Australian professor with specialist knowledge of workplace law.

According to Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, Djokovic, who has earned $110 million in prize money, then outlined his argument that the Grand Slams only pay out about seven percent of their income.It said he compared this to American basketball, which pays about 50 percent.

Some reports said the dispute could lead to tournament boycotts if players didn’t get more money, but Djokovic said this was not true.“That wasn’t a subject I raised, no,” he said after powering into the Australian Open second round in his first tournament match since an elbow injury forced him out of Wimbledon six months ago.

“You’re talking about boycott, you’re talking about radical decisions to make and move so we can get financial compensations the way we deserve it. But there was no talks about that,” he insisted.

The Times said any new union would break away from the present set-up under the ATP, the men’s governing body, which jointly represents the interests of both the players and tournaments.The ATP refused to comment to AFP.