Tennis Australia and Professional Tennis Players’ Association near settlement over lawsuit

There is now the genuine possibility of TA and the PTPA reaching a final agreement before the Australian Open gets under way in January.

Whether TA will offer firm commitments around prize money or scheduling has not been divulged, but an agreement could strengthen the PTPA’s hand with the other Grand Slams.

The New York case could ultimately result in a jury trial. Separate complaints have been lodged with the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, but the PTPA has previously admitted an out-of-court settlement is a goal.

“The goal is not to litigate this to the end,” the PTPA’s executive director Ahmad Nassar told BBC Sport in March.

“We are absolutely prepared to do that, but that’s not what we actually need or want.

“What we want is to get everybody to the table to reform the sport the way that many of them have already spoken about.”

The New York judge is currently considering a motion filed by the ATP and WTA to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit.

The ATP said in March it “strongly rejects the premise of the PTPA’s claims” and described the case as “entirely without merit”.

The WTA referred to a “baseless legal case which will divert time, attention and resources from our core mission to the detriment of our players and the sport as a whole”.

The International Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Integrity Agency were originally listed as defendants, but were removed from the lawsuit in September.