Ahead of the 2023 US Open, the PTPA team gathered in New York to host a variety of events for players and the broader tennis ecosystem as the organization continues to build the PTPA community and provide opportunities to learn about its mission. The week also marked one year since the organization’s major leadership changes, including the appointment of Ahmad Nassar to Executive Director and the founding of the PTPA’s for-profit affiliate, Winners Alliance, both of which occurred just prior to the 2022 US Open.
On Monday, Aug. 21, the PTPA hosted a learning session for players and player teams competing in qualifiers. Players were invited to join the PTPA for dinner, meet the staff, and learn more about the mission. Ahmad and co-founder Vasek Pospisil presented to guests and discussed how the PTPA Principles inform its mission, what the PTPA has been able to achieve in the last 12 months, and what the PTPA will be most focused on in the next 12 months. The event concluded with an open Q&A session with players.
On Wednesday, Aug. 23, the PTPA hosted a dinner and its seventh in-person meeting of the year with its Executive Committee. Since its establishment in January, the Executive Committee has played a central role in actively pushing the mission and vision of the PTPA forward and setting the strategy for the organization’s player advocacy efforts. Executive Committee members Novak Djokovic, Hubert Hurkacz, Ons Jabeur, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Vasek Pospisil joined the dinner meeting alongside PTPA ambassadors Nico Lapentti and Marcos Baghdatis, Executive Director Ahmad Nassar, and other PTPA staff.
On Thursday, Aug. 24, the PTPA hosted its first-ever PTPA Players Party at Spin NYC. The party, which was open to all players and their teams, was an opportunity for players to connect, unwind, and celebrate the last Slam of the year. More than 300 guests joined the evening, including players, coaches, agents, key industry stakeholders, PTPA partners, and more.
During the event, Topps provided guests the opportunity to create their own one-of-one physical trading cards on site. The activation was in celebration of the PTPA and Winners Alliance’s partnership with Fanatics Collectibles, which provides players the chance to be included in a broad-scale group trading card set program and is the first group licensing deal in tennis history.
In addition to creating their own trading cards, all players in attendance had access to the PTPA gifting suite, which featured gifts from top brands including TUMI, La-Roche Posay, Asutra, Sigrún, Honey Stinger, and Explorer Cold Brew. Heineken and Grey Goose also supported the party with specialty drinks for guests.
Finally, on Friday, Aug. 25, the PTPA hosted a media availability session on site at the US Open with Executive Director Ahmad Nassar and co-founders Vasek Pospisil and Novak Djokovic. The media availability focused on recapping the PTPA’s progress and momentum since the leadership change in August 2022 and included discussion around forthcoming initiatives for the PTPA. You can watch the full session below.
PTPA Media Availability with Novak Djokovic, Vasek Pospisil and Ahmad Nassar: August 2023
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