Ahead of Novak Djokovic’s match, Pedro Martinez writes about the role of the Players Advisory Council | ATP Tour

Players Advisory Council

Ahead of the Djokovic match, Martinez writes about the role on the Players Advisory Council

The Spaniard provides insight to the ATP Player Advisory Council

January 18, 2026

The first meeting of the 2026 ATP Player Advisory Council was held on Friday evening in Melbourne. Pedro Martinez, who has been representing the Council since 2023, wrote a blog for ATPTour.com about his experience in this position before playing Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open.

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It’s always a pleasure to be in Australia. For me, the Australian Open is a great tournament in terms of the facilities, the grounds and the way they treat the players. This year, I’m playing Novak Djokovic in the first round, so it’s going to be a big match and I’m excited for it.

Before the tournament, I attended the first ATP Player Advisory Council meeting of the season. I started in the Council in 2023 and it will be my fourth season representing the players to try to improve our colleagues and our sport.

I’ve always loved business, and it’s always good to be involved in the other side of the coin. I was talking to my good friend Pablo Andujar, who used to be on the Council as a player before joining the ATP Board as a Player Representative. He told me good things about being there, and I spoke to head of player relations Fernando Sanchez as well.

Before I joined the Player Advisory Council, I sometimes complained about different things, but I didn’t know how they worked. Until you’re on the Council, you don’t always see what drives different decisions and all that makes our sport what it is.

The ATP is really trying to improve everything on our Tour. There are exceptions, such as the revenue-sharing formula for the ATP Masters 1000 events, which help to strengthen the relationship between players and tournaments by providing transparency and aligning our interests. There will also be a formula starting this year for ATP 500 events, too.

With 12 days of Masters 1000 tournaments, it gives players more opportunities to play and more activities. When you’re on the Player Advisory Council, it’s like you’re in a small group and you’re all learning about these things together.

It is very important to get this information about how everything works and what happens behind the scenes to make all this happen. Often times tennis players are thinking about their situations and not about everything that is happening on the Tour. Players sometimes see the negative side of things when they want to improve.

Pedro Martinez is a member of the ATP Player Advisory Council.” style=”width:100%;” src=”

It’s great for me to be able to represent other players. I always tell them if there’s anything they want to change, just to let me know and I’ll try to share it with my colleagues on the Player Advisory Council.

I got to play a few Challengers in 2023 and was able to share what I took from the experience with the team. It can even be small things like the number of balls and the laundry service we provide to things like food for the players on site.

I have many years left in the Council, so I hope I can continue to learn and give my opinion, share my life in competitions. If I can help a little on my side to other players, I feel great.

For now, I will focus on the competition in Melbourne. I’m happy to play it in the center field. We play this game to compete in the big arenas and hopefully I can have a chance to face Novak!