The players’ union suing the tours and Grand Slams has thrown its weight behind Tara Moore’s $20 million (£14.7 million) legal battle against the Women’s Tennis Association in a new front in the sport’s civil war.
The Guardian has learned that Moore, a former British No. 1 doubles player who this week filed legal action for negligence against the WTA after being handed a four-year doping ban, is using lawyers from the Professional Tennis Players Association legal partner King & Spalding.
The PTPA has already filed a legal claim against the WTA, the Men’s Association of Tennis Professionals and three of the grand slam tournaments, accusing them of colluding to reduce prize money and impose a restrictive ranking system, in the same US federal court where Moore filed her claim, that of the Southern District of New York.
The players’ union, which was founded six years ago by Novak Djokovic but left last month, is also in the middle of a $1 billion investment round to finance a new world tour, posing another potential threat to the WTA and ATP.
PTPA sources told the Guardian that it is not paying Moore’s legal bills but is backing her claim, with King & Spalding believed to have been appointed on a pro bono basis, i.e. free of charge.
Moore was first suspended in June 2022 after testing positive for boldenone and nandrolone during a tournament in Bogotá. The 33-year-old has always denied doping and in December 2023 she was acquitted by an independent tribunal, which ruled that contaminated meat was the “likely source” of the positive tests.
However, an appeal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned that ruling. In July 2025, Cas reimposed Moore’s original four-year ban, removing the 19 months already served, in a ruling stating that she had not sufficiently proven that the high levels of nandrolone in her system were coincidental.
Moore is now suing the WTA for negligence, arguing that she failed to warn players about the risk of infection from eating meat, specifically prior to the tournament in the Colombian capital. She is seeking $20 million in compensation for what the claim describes as reputational and financial ruin, arguing that the WTA failed in its duty of care to protect athletes.
Moore also claims that the authorities, particularly the ITIA, have given preferential treatment to more high-profile players such as Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, who were handed bans of three months and one month respectively after being infected.
A WTA spokesperson said: “We are aware of Tara Moore’s filing in the U.S. District Court and will respond through the appropriate legal process. The arbitration was conducted by a neutral arbitrator and there is no basis to overturn the arbitrator’s award. We respect the judicial process and will not comment further while the case is pending.” The ITIA could not be reached for comment.
A source with knowledge of the matter told the Guardian: “We support Tara as she has been treated horribly. It seems clear there are different systems for different people.”
The PTPA dropped its antitrust case against Tennis Australia last month after reaching a peace deal before the Australian Open, but is still suing the other three grand slam tournaments and the tours.
The court documents say Tennis Australia has agreed to cooperate with the PTPA against the other tournaments, including providing confidential financial information, in return for the claim being dropped and avoiding liability for potential damages that could amount to tens of millions of pounds.
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