At a tournament that is nicknamed the ‘fifth grand slam’ of tennis, it is ironic that Novak Djokovic’s biggest battle has been off the court.
The world No.1 holds the position of president of the Players Council. A body set up to speak on behalf of those on the tour and give their recommendations to the board of directors. However, in recent days the group has come under heavy attack following the removal of ATP CEO Chris Kermode. A decision that has been backed by some members of the council. Although Djokovic is staying coy on what he thinks.
“I don’t want to express myself as for or against, I’m part of the council, I’m president of the council and I have responsibility, and confidentiality, that I have to be responsible to,” said Djokovic.
“By sharing that information I expose myself, and I become liable to breach of confidentiality within that structure. So I’m not willing to risk that, because I respect the governing structure.”
To add to the fiasco, the Serbian has come under fire from two of his biggest rivals. Both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have said they received a lack of communication from the body. Something Nadal said he was ‘disappointed’ with earlier this week. A sentiment echoed by Federer on Sunday during his press conference with the Swiss – German press.
“Unfortunately he [Djokovic] had no time,” said Federer. “That’s hard to understand for me … I want to know what the motive was, [and] what Kermode does not seem to have done well. I would have tended to be more for him.”
At an impasse, the war of words continues and so does the media scrutiny. The main reason for this is the lack of clarity there is. In recent months there has been talk of a new vision for the future of the sport by the council, but it has been mainly behind the scenes. Little has been said about what the selection process to replace Kermode will be. Furthermore, the secrecy of the council’s vote has raised questions about if the structure of the ATP Tour should be more transparent.
Brazilian doubles specialise Bruno Soares serves on the council. During an interview with Global Esporte, the 37-year-old said the decision to keep their vote on Kermode’s future secret was because there was a divide among the members. In other terms, the decision was a gentlemen’s agreement and not mandatory.
“I do not think the dialogue has failed. I at least talked to the vast majority of the people I represent. I think each of the Council has played its part.” Said Soares.
“Obviously it is difficult to talk to everyone, but what happens is that the subjects are always exposed, everyone is aware. If anyone has any doubts, it is up to the person to look for his representative in the Council, to ask, to ask questions and to suggest things.
“So we can not always find everyone. Me and Jamie (Murray) represent from 1st to 100th in doubles. Imagine running after 100 (tennis players) … we communicate a lot by email, but a lot of things are up to people who have an interest in looking for us.”
The Djokovic-lead council has no direct involvement in the decision to remove Kermode. Under the current structure, they debate topics and pass their feedback to the three Players’ representatives, who make the decisions. Those individuals are Tennis Channel executive David Egdes, Sportradar’s director of communications Alex Inglot and former player Justin Gimelstob.
“I think Chris (Kermode) did a great job. He was a great president in those five years that he had, now another year to complete the sixth, were two mandates.” Soares explained.
“This week, we had a meeting with the Players Council staff with the Tournament Board staff. Dialogue is increasing and this is how we will achieve our goals. In the end, everyone wants it to get better. We want the tournaments to improve, the tournaments want us to participate. It’s a business. Everyone wants to earn more, make more money. I think working together is the way to do it.”
It is only hoped that the new leader of the ATP will reunite the tour once more. Whoever that will be. Although Federer has laid out his opinion on the qualities the candidate must have.
“We need – I guess in my opinion – someone who knows the game.” He said.
“Otherwise we will lose a year to that person meeting all the people.
“We’ve had it in the past, it takes a lot of time. Yeah, a lot of work ahead of us to say the least.”
With so much drama going on, it is sometimes easy to forget about the matches that are taking place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
