Jay Clarke admitted that he did not know where he was coming when he placed his name on a lawsuit against the administrative bodies of Tennis.
The 26-year-old was the only British player mentioned as a claimant in the explosive case, who founded the professional Tennis Players Association, a body, partly founded by Novak Djokovic, against organizations such as the ATP and WTA.
The PTPA burned the governing bodies as a cartel, with Wimbledon and the other Grand Slams mentioned as fellow-samenwers.
Djokovic was not mentioned as the claimant in particular and tried to quickly distance themselves from some aspects of the case, and Clarke then decided to get his name from the court case.
He also contacted Wimbledon to clarify his position, and Clarke’s role in the case did not prevent him from getting a wildcard for the fifth time.
“I love being here,” he said. “I played Wimbledon a number of times and also try to be a member here and things like that. I know a lot of the people inside.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a big thing. I just had to say where I was standing. I just think it was much bigger than I initially expected.”
About the strong language used in the court case, which accuses the administrative bodies of systemic abuse, competitive practices and a flagrant contempt for players’ well -being, Clarke added: “(it was) very surprising, to be honest. I think everyone was surprised by that.
“I think it has a bit overwhelmed us. Of course we are tennis players, we are not lawyers, so it’s just not something that I felt at ease.”
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However, Clarke supports many of the demands of the PTPA, including a better distribution of wealth and a greater focus on the well -being of players.
The Derby player, who stands at the 199th, underwent wrist surgery in 2023 and said: “I played four challengers in India, of course returned from wrist surgery, four weeks in a row in the same country and we use different balls every week. And it is just that these things should be better. I think it is a very simple solution.
“I am not alone. I think all tennis players want tennis to be improved, want it to improve. I don’t think someone should look at my ranking at money who trying to find out which flight is cheaper, and things like that.
“I did nine weeks in India. It is a lot of traveling. I had a coach with me every week. After paying flights and so I was £ 3,000 pounds down. And the second half of the trip I won 18 games and lost two. So it’s really difficult.
“I think tennis is a sport of large enough, and it generates enough income, for more than 100 people to take advantage of the sport. I think a lot of the other sports, they have a better income split and tennis is too far behind that.”
This week Clarke’s finances will certainly help. A Wimbledon -Wildcard is supplied with guaranteed prize money of £ 66,000, and that would increase to £ 99,000 if he can get the best British wildcard in the first round than Evans and set up a likely meeting with Djokovic.
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