Tennis' civil war laid bare with new details of peace deal

The civil war engulfing tennis has been laid bare on the opening day of the first grand slam event this year, with details of Tennis Australia's peace deal with the Professional Tennis Players' Association published for the first time.

- Matt Hughes

The PTPA launched an antitrust lawsuit against the four grand slam tournaments, the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, and the International Tennis Federation last year, accusing them of collaborating to reduce prize money, impose a restrictive ranking system and repress player promotional opportunities, but Tennis Australia was dropped from the claim last month after reaching a settlement agreement with the players' union.

In a filing appearing to be timed to cause maximum discomfort to the three remaining grand slam tournaments and the sport's three governing bodies, the details of that settlement were published on Saturday in the New York district court.

The court documents say Tennis Australia has agreed to cooperate with the PTPA against the other grand slam tournaments, including providing confidential financial information, in return for being removed from the claim and avoiding liability for potential damages that could reach tens of millions of pounds.

"Tennis Australia will begin providing valuable discovery that [the plaintiffs] may or may not have been ultimately able to obtain from Tennis Australia, which damages class plaintiffs can use in litigating their claims well in advance of court-ordered discovery against ATP and WTA," the PTPA's lawyers claim in a court filing.