Novak Djokovic speaks for the first time amid Professional Tennis Players Association legal row

Novak Djokovic has spoken for the first time since the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) launched their legal battle against tennis authorities, as he 

Founded by Djokovic and Canada's Vasek Pospisil in 2021, the PTPA has launched a legal battle against the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees the sport's anti-doping and anti-corruption system.

They are demanding better rights for players at all levels of the sport, with twelve current and former players, including Pospisil and Nick Kyrgios, listed as plaintiffs along with the PTPA in the US suit in New York.

Djokovic was not named in the legal documents despite his high-profile association with the PTPA and now he has spoken about the legal battle ahead of his opening match at the Miami Open.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is in a difficult position as he has a responsibility to the game given his status as the biggest name in the sport and that may be why he was guarded in his comments to the media.

"I've never been a fan and supporter of division in our sport," said Djokovic.

"I've always fought for better representation and influence of and positioning of the players globally in our sport, which I think is still not where I think it should be.

"Where most of the players think it should be, not just in terms of prize money, but in terms of many other points that have been also stated in that document."

"I really hope that all the governing bodies, including PTPA, will come together and solve these issues.

"This is a classic lawsuit, so lawyers to lawyers, type of situation. So to be quite frank with you, there are things that I agree with in the lawsuit, and then there are also things that I don't agree with.

"I found that maybe some wording was quite strong in there, but I guess the legal team knows what they are doing and what kind of terminology they're supposed to use in order to get the right effect."

Kyrgios has been more outspoken in his support of the PTPA action, which accuses tennis chiefs of the suppression of competition between tournaments, reducing prize money and financial exploitation of players.

They also accuse the governing bodies of disregarding player welfare and hit out at the current anti-doping set-up in the sport.

"I felt like people knew that something was going on behind the scenes for a long time," Kyrgios told Sky Sports.

"Myself, Pospisil, Djokovic, we all wanted to do something like this for the future of tennis. I know myself and many other players aren't happy with the structures and everything that's going on in tennis at the moment. This will be a special moment in tennis for sure. Things needed to change.

"The PTPA's first goal was to get the players to be heard. I feel like we don't get heard. The ATP just has so much power and they don't have to show anything to anyone.

"Now this is where things like this will have to change, they'll have to show things and how things operate and that's when people will really realise it hasn't really been done correctly over the last however many years."

READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz weighs in on Professional Tennis Players Association's legal case