Reilly Opelka claims ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi threatened him over supporting lawsuit

Reilly Opelka has claimed that ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi sent a player to threaten him financially over adding his name to the recent PTPA lawsuit.

Last month a group of tennis players sued ATP and WTA in New York, London and Brussels accusing them of suppressing player wages and disregarding player health.

The PTPA alleged recently that the ATP is aiming to coerce players from removing themselves from the lawsuit. The PTPA moved to stop the ATP from discussing the lawsuit with players in a three-hour case in Manhattan on Friday as per Front Office Sports.

Opelka testified that ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi sent an unnamed player to warn him that if he didn't take his name off the lawsuit, he would lose his pension and find himself in a pit of legal fees.

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With Opelka set to play in Barcelona over the next week, he was on video call from the city. The ATP denies the allegation calling it hearsay with board member Luben Pampoulov calling it untrue.

The PTPA filed the case on March 18 and the next day players were asked to sign a statement to disavow the lawsuit. He said that the players stopped circulating it when the gag was filed. Pampoulov said that Ben Shelton was the only player to sign it.

Opelka testified that this incident happened in Miami and while he would not name the player due to fears of ATP retribution, he said that the unnamed player had instructed him at a Players Council Meeting that day that he risked losing major perks he currently benefits from.

From the ATP side, they emphasized that only a few players have publicly supported the lawsuit with tour lawyer Brad Ruskin calling it a 'sophisticated PR campaign'.

The case is still in its early stages with the defendants not set to reply until May 20. The judge gave both sides a week to file new briefs on the motion to gag the ATP with a ruling to be given shortly after.

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