Novak Djokovic has cut ties with the Professional Tennis Players Association, the players’ union he co-founded, saying “it has become clear that my values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organization.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion launched the breakaway organization alongside Canadian player Vasek Pospisil in 2021. They said they were aiming to offer representation for players who are independent contractors in a largely individual sport.

One of the goals made clear along the way was to become a sort of full-fledged union that negotiates collective bargaining agreements like those that exist in team sports, although that sort of thing hasn’t happened.

Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, said Sunday on X that he had “ongoing concerns regarding transparency, governance, and the way my voice and image have been represented.”

The PTPA filed a class-action lawsuit in March against the women’s and men’s tours, the International Tennis Federation and the sport’s integrity agency, accusing the organizations of “systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare.” The four Grand Slam tournaments were later added as defendants.

Djokovic was not listed as a plaintiff when the suit was filed; Pospisil, who is now retired, and other players were.

That’s because, Djokovic said in March, “I want other players to step up.”

The lawsuit says players should gain access to more earnings, arguing that the governing bodies that oversee the four Grand Slam tournaments — Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open and the Australian Open — and other professional events “cap the prize money tournaments award and limit players’ ability to earn money off the court.”

Djokovic said Sunday he “will continue to focus on my tennis, my family, and contributing to the sport in ways that reflect my principles and integrity. I wish the players and those involved the best as they move forward, but for me, this chapter is now closed.”

Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior is expected to succeed Enzo Maresca as Chelsea’s next manager, with the club potentially set to announce his hire as soon as Monday following Maresca’s sudden departure on New Year’s Day.

Rosenior arrived in London on Sunday afternoon, according to ESPN, and will reportedly interview for the job on Monday, per Sky Sports. The 41-year-old has been the supposed frontrunner for the job since Maresca exited the club on Thursday, to the point that his future hung over Strasbourg’s 1-1 draw at Nice on Saturday like a cloud. He confirmed pre-match that he had been in conversations with Chelsea’s higher-ups and admitted he was unable to guarantee that he would stay put in France.

“In life, there are zero guarantees,” Rosenior said, per L’Equipe. “You never know what tomorrow will bring. I do my job. There has already been speculation. I don’t want to guarantee how long I’ll be here, but I enjoy being here every day. I intend to keep doing so for as long as I am here. I love this club, but I can’t guarantee anything. No one can.”

Rosenior’s hire has always seemed convenient for Chelsea because Strasbourg are also owned by BlueCo, the consortium set up in 2022 when the Blues’ new owners took over the club from Roman Abramovich, who was forced to sell after he was sanctioned by the U.K. government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. BlueCo purchased shares in Strasbourg a year later, the business of the two clubs so intertwined that Rosenior felt he had “no control” over his future in his remarks on Friday.

“I am calm,” he said. “There is a lot of noise and speculation. If we pay attention to it as a coach, we go crazy.”

Chelsea’s upcoming slate includes a Premier League match at Fulham on Wednesday and an FA Cup third round tie at Charlton Athletic on Saturday, either of which could serve as Rosenior’s first match in charge.

The Blues currently sit in fifth place through 20 games in the Premier League season and sit three points outside of a UEFA Champions League berth. Rosenior will also inherit a team that is set to play in the EFL Cup semifinals in the coming weeks and ranks 13th in the Champions League with two matches to go in the league phase.

An inexperienced but ambitious manager

Rosignor was a professional player before he transitioned into coaching, spending 16 years playing in England’s top three divisions as a full back. He spent the majority of his career at Hull City from 2010 to 2015 and was also an England youth international before retiring in 2016 following a spell with Brighton and Hove Albion. He stayed at Brighton and worked with the youth teams and later became an assistant at Derby County.

He finally took charge of a team for the first time at Derby in 2022, becoming the interim manager following Wayne Rooney’s resignation and won seven of the 12 matches he oversaw for the club. He left Derby after they hired Paul Warne as Rooney’s full-time successor but landed a new job within weeks, taking over at Hull in November of that year. He was in charge until May 2024 and posted a 34.62% win percentage after 78 matches, narrowly missing out on a spot in the promotion playoffs in the 2023-24 season before he was fired.

Again, Rosenior landed on his feet and was hired by Strasbourg in July of 2024, where he currently boasts a 49.21% win percentage after 63 games. The French club finished seventh at the end of his first season in charge, booking a spot in the UEFA Conference League in the process. Strasbourg have maintained a level of consistency this season and currently sit seventh in Ligue 1 with seven wins from 17 matches this season and finished the Conference League’s league phase in first place, booking direct passageway to the round of 16.

Though Rosenior has yet to break into the elite levels of the game, he reportedly turned down offers from Premier League teams last spring before signing a new deal with Strasbourg. He has, though, openly stated his ambition to coach in England’s top flight one day and also hopes to lead the national team.

Rosenior’s attack-minded approach

In an essay he wrote for the Coaches’ Voice in 2024, he described his teams as “dominant, on the front foot and scoring goals,” though there is versatility in his approach. Rosenior’s Strasbourg are possession-oriented and play in a 3-2-5 when they have the ball while switching into a 4-3-3 when they are out of possession, though he’s flexible when the situation calls for it. He recalled an instance where he coached against Maresca’s Leicester City, opting to ditch possession against the Championship’s top side.

“Going into that game, our defensive principles had been a very zonal 4-4-2, but I asked the players: ‘Do you want to go man-to-man all over the pitch, with no cover?’ We had created such a good relationship with them and they were so open, they said: ‘Yes gaffer, let’s have a real go at it.’ So we went away and coached man-to-man all over the pitch. We knew Enzo was a top manager and that Leicester had the best players in the league. If we let them make passes and dictate the game, we’d be finished – so we pressed them and ended up winning the game 1-0.”

The style is not inherently dissimilar from Maresca’s, which may make the transition smoother for Rosenior and the Chelsea players alike, as well as the 41-year-old’s interest in working with young players. His Strasbourg team has skewed young and in his first match as the French team’s manager, a 1-1 draw at Montpellier, his starting lineup was the first in Ligue 1 history to be made up exclusively of players under the age of 23. His coaching philosophy may also be conducive to working with young players, especially as it pertains to playing on the ball.

“You have to be brave,” he wrote, describing one of the fundamentals of his approach. “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but if you do make a mistake, go and take the ball again. When I was a kid who just loved playing football, it was because I loved having the ball at my feet. I don’t ever want to take that love of the ball away from the players I work with. I want my team to have the ball and provoke the game, but I can’t coach that if I am not willing to allow my players to make mistakes.”