Novak Djokovic called for tennis players to "form their own union to try to battle for higher levels of financial reward at all tournaments" during a "lengthy speech" Friday at the annual player meeting prior to the start of the Australian Open, according to Mike Dickson of the London DAILY MAIL. Djokovic "believes that players are still not being paid enough compared to other successful sports stars." Players had "earlier in the evening been given a presentation by the Australian Open in which plans were revealed to almost double the overall purse" from its present US$43.85M to $79.74M in the next five or six years. Djokovic's speech was "said to be the talk of the men’s locker room and player agents" at the start of the tourney. The meeting was "relatively unexceptional until the surprise intervention of Djokovic, which came close to the end of proceedings," during which he asked for "all non-players present to leave." It is thought Roger Federer is "not on board with Djokovic's idea" (London DAILY MAIL, 1/15). Australian tennis player Matt Ebden "confirmed that Djokovic addressed the players, but denied anything unusual was said." Ebden: "Novak said some things and everyone else ... probably 10, 20, 30 other guys held the mike and spoke to the players as well." Ebden claims Djokovic's speech "didn't mention prizemoney" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1/15).
