Novak Djokovic has called for male professional players to form a union and demand greater prize money at ATP tournaments and Grand Slams.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion made the announcement at the compulsory annual players’ meeting at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

According to the Daily Mail, the Serbian asked ATP officials to leave the room before addressing the players.

Djokovic, 30, has earned almost $110m (£80m) in his career.

But he believes players are still not being paid enough compared with other successful sports stars.

Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal were among the players in attendance.

‘There could be major repercussions’

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Some players feel they deserve a larger slice of the cake, and may point to the tens of millions of pounds in profit generated by Wimbledon every year.

The rewards at the very top level are astronomically high: Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have won more than $300m (£217m) in prize money between them. And yet, if you are are outside the top 100, it can be a struggle to earn a decent living. Lower ranked golfers are comparatively better rewarded.

Part of the subtext to this is that a significant number of male players still do not believe in equal prize money. Djokovic himself said at Indian Wells in 2016 that men currently deserve higher prize money because “the stats are showing we have much more spectators”.

The stats for men’s tennis may not look so promising five years from now, but if the push for a separate player’s union gathers momentum there could be major repercussions for the sport.

Tenth seed Coco Vandeweghe voiced her frustration over a lack of bananas as she lost to Timea Babos in the Australian Open first round.

“I’m waiting for the bananas,” the American told chair umpire Fergus Murphy after the first set when asked why she was not ready to play.

“Why should I feel uncomfortable because the court is ill prepared?”

Vandeweghe became the third American seed in the women’s draw to fall on the opening day in Melbourne.

US Open champion Sloane Stephens was knocked out by China’s world number 34 Zhang Shuai, who came through 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in one hour and 58 minutes.

The world number 13 served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, before Zhang, 28, recovered to win the tie-break and also take the final set.

It was an eighth loss in a row for Stephens, whose last win came in the US final at Flushing Meadows in September.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams – a finalist in Melbourne last year – lost 6-3 7-5 to world number 78 Belinda Bencic.

In total, 12 US players went out on day one of the tournament.

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‘It’s not my fault that this court is ill prepared’

Vandeweghe received a code violation after refusing to restart play at the end of the first set until bananas were delivered.

She was given a second code violation after later appearing to swear at her Hungarian opponent, who won 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.

A semi-finalist last year, Vandeweghe said she had been suffering with flu in the days leading up to her Grand Slam season opener on Hisense Arena.

She showed her frustrations in an animated exchange with the chair umpire about fruit not being available when she needed it.

“How are they not on court? I mean, that’s not my fault,” she exclaimed.

“Why do I have to play under a different set of rules? I have needs and it’s not my fault that this court is ill prepared.”

Vandeweghe was then docked a point for a comment made at Babos. The American said she was not happy about Babos getting “in her face” but the Hungarian denied trying to provoke her.

“She always does that [loses her temper],” Babos, the world number 51, said. “A couple of racquets are broken every match, this time it was I believe a time violation, but I’m not sure.

“The second one I believe was an insult against me. If the umpire heard it then it must have been this.”

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Nick Kyrgios made a confident start to his Australian Open campaign with victory over Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva in 87 minutes.

The 22-year-old Australian, seeded 17th, raced to a 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory in round one.

Kyrgios won the warm-up tournament in Brisbane, raising Australian hopes of a first men’s singles champion in Melbourne since 1976.

He will face Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the second round on Wednesday.

“I was very nervous coming out here, first match at the Australian Open,” Kyrgios said.

“I didn’t think I played as well as Brisbane but hopefully I continue to improve and find my feet out here.

“A couple of years ago I made the quarter-finals here and I’m just trying to emulate that and maybe go a little bit further.”

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There was an early warning for Kyrgios when umpire Fergus Murphy took exception to his admonishment of the crowd for calling out, and a debate ensued between the pair at the changeover.

However, Kyrgios remained focused where it mattered, dominating against world number 98 Dutra Silva on Hisense Arena.

Sixteen aces and no breaks of serve illustrated his strength in that department, but the Australian’s return was equally impressive.

Kyrgios got 76% of returns in play, breaking the Brazilian’s serve five times as the pressure told.

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