Diego Schwartzman hopes player conditions across the ATP and WTA Tours can improve after pledging his allegiance to the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), co-founded by Novak Djokovic.
Schwartzman also revealed that Vasek Pospisil was eager to add his name to the star-studded executive committee, which includes Hubert Hurkacz and Ons Jabeur.
Speaking to Stats Perform, Schwartzman said: "Well, it took a long time for me to decide and go in. Vasek was trying hard to have me there. Also, ATP always, when they have this selection of the ATP council and the players council, they always try to have me in there.
"My English has been improving over the last few years, so it was good for them to have this kind of combination of a Latin voice, who is English speaking and a strong voice."
Whether it is the mandatory tour events, the short off-season period or the late nights at grand slams, tennis top stars have long called for improved conditions off the court to allow for better quality on it.
Schwartzman, who achieved a career-high world ranking of eight in 2020, admits to having his own battles with the ATP, which led to an alignment with the PTPA.
"I always have strong thoughts, I’m always fighting with the ATP, with the tour managers, with everyone and trying to get better conditions for the players. So, I think that was why I joined PTPA a few months ago," he added.
Since turning professional in 2010, Schwartzman has seen the highs and lows of the sport across his 14-year stint on the Tour.
The Argentine remains competitive with the elite and will no doubt hope to add to the four ATP titles already to his name.
Off the court, he has high hopes that by having 24-time grand slam champion Djokovic at the helm of the PTPA, change across the ATP and WTA Tours is not far away.
Schwartzman said of Djokovic: "He started pushing hard in 2020, 2019. Without the PTPA at that time, pushing for the players, under COVID-19 conditions, it was very hard for us to play the tournaments, with many different conditions, depending on all the different countries and it was tough for us and he had at that time his voice and he was pushing to help the players.
"Then Vasek joined him, and to have this combination between the number one and the guy who has his own voice, and Vasek helping other ranking players, so in the end they are growing very fast.
"I think also with the women now, many different girls have joined PTPA, strong names, and I think that’s very important. As many names as we have, we also have Novak as a main voice. I think that’s very important.
"It was very difficult for tennis to reach because it’s an individual sport, it's always difficult to think as a collective, a group of players because we come from different situations, different countries and it the end Djokovic helps a lot to make us feel like we have a strong voice."
Zverev breezes past De Jong into Hamburg Open second round
Alexander Zverev cruised into the second round of the Hamburg Open with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Jesper de Jong.
The top seed took one step closer to defending his title with a 6-2 6-2 victory on Wednesday.
De Jong took the opening game, but Zverev dominated after that, winning the next five in a row, before holding off the Dutchman's late fightback to take the first set.
The second was a carbon copy of the first, as De Jong was broken twice and given no way back in as Zverev closed out the match to set up a meeting with Hugo Gaston in the next round.
Data Debrief: Defending champion starts strong
After clinching the title on home soil last year, Zverev was always going to come out fighting in his defence.
He hit 29 winners and twice went on five-game winning runs to take the match away from De Jong before he could get any real foothold.
Ruud stunned as Monteiro advances to Swedish Open quarter-finals
Thiago Monteiro pulled off a shock in the second round of the Swedish Open, beating Casper Ruud in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals.
The Brazilian took just an hour and a half to see off the second seed 6-3 6-3 in Bastad on Wednesday.
Ruud successfully defended two break points in the opening game but could not gain the upper hand as Monteiro charged forwards, getting two breaks to take the set.
Monteiro continued to dominate in the second, though he only needed one break this time, and comfortably held off the Norwegian in the final game to make it into the next round, where he will face either Pavel Kotov or Duje Ajdukovic.
Data Debrief: Monteiro comes out on top
Monteiro did not give Ruud any sort of opening, winning all of his service games, and 75% of his service points (38/51).
The number two seed did not win more than one game in a row, and he will be hoping to put this result behind him quickly ahead of his doubles quarter-final with Rafael Nadal later on.
Nadal downs Borg to advance to Swedish Open second round
Rafael Nadal is through to the second round of the Swedish Open after holding out for a straight-sets win over Leo Borg on Tuesday.
In his singles return in Bastad, the Spaniard triumphed 6-3 6-4, to follow up his doubles win with Casper Ruud on Monday.
Nadal raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set, and though Berg was able to peg him back to 5-3, the former world number one served to love in the final game to seal it.
He got another vital break in the opening game of the second, which was enough to help him hold off the Swede's attempted fight back to book a place in the next round, where he will face Cam Norrie.
Data Debrief: Running back the clock
Nadal last played in Bastad in 2005, winning the clay tournament as a 19-year-old.
And he made a strong start to the tournament this time around; he won 41 of his 53 service points (77%), but got a vital break in either set to put him out of Borg's reach.
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