Two days before the start of the Wimbledon Championships off-court politics continues to taint men’s tennis after three people officially quit the ATP Player Council following a seven-hour meeting on Friday.
The trio of resignations follows the appointment of Weller Evans to the position of Player representative, which was previously held by Justin Gimseltob. Evans is a former manager and executive vice-president of player services for the ATP. Website Tennis Life obtained information about the selection process that took place on Friday, which showed a split in the council between Evans and Nicolas Lapentti at five votes each. In the end, it was an endorsement from one of the two board representatives that struck a deal. Enabling Evans to serve in the position, but only until the end of 2019. Paving way for another vote to take place next year.
The division has contributed to Robin Haase, Jamie Murray and Dani Vallverdú stepping down from their places on the council. In recent months there has been tension on the ATP Tour following the decision to remove Chris Kermode from his position as the CEO. An action that was taken by the Board, not the council.
“I do not feel that I can represent players in a way that I should do. Moreover, I think that our representation is not at the right level to move tennis forward.” Haase said in a statement on Saturday.
“I joined the council for several reasons, but the most important priority has also been: how we can continue to make our sport bigger and better? In my opinion, I feel that the topics I brought to the table were not given much attention.”
Vallverdú represented the tour’s coaches on the council. He was one of a dozen candidates to express their interest in becoming a player representative, but failed to get shortlisted. The former mentor of Grigor Dimitrov didn’t have a vote in the selection process on Friday.
I would like to inform everyone that I have stepped down from the ATP Player Council. I am very proud to have represented all the ATP Coaches to the best of my abilities. However, I have decided to end my involvement. I wish the ATP Player Council the best moving forward.
— Daniel Vallverdu (@danielvallverdu) June 29, 2019
As for Murray, it is understood that both he and Haase backed Lapenti for the role. The British doubles No.1 is yet to issue a statement about the matter.
Djokovic speaks out
Once again Novak Djokovic enters into a grand slam surrounded by the political turmoil occurring in the sport. The world No.1 is the president of the player council and had previously been accused of being a driving force for the removal of Kermode. Something he has never admitted to doing.
On media day at Wimbledon, Djokovic said he, ‘understood’ the reasons for the resignations before criticizing the organisational structure of the ATP. Something he has done before.
“I think it’s a system and a structure that keeps on failing us. I’ve been saying this before. We are all here as volunteers, as guys that are trying to do the role responsibly and also make sure that players are represented, different groups of players are represented.” Djokovic explained.
“Unfortunately the governing structure is structured in such a way that it does not allow us to make any significant changes at our will. I’ve experienced that in the past when I was also not part of the council, when I was one of the 14 out of 15 players signing the document that had three points that we requested from ATP management and our representatives to consider and follow up on; nothing was done.” He added.
Branding the marathon meeting that took place on Friday as both ‘unacceptable’ and ‘ineffective,’ Djokovic has vowed to remain on the council. Although he did consider stepping down like some of his fellow players.
Elaborating further, the 16-time grand slam champion has also voiced concern about the confidentiality of council meetings. Critics argue that there needs to be more transparency in order to prevent members being falsely accused of certain things. Although Djokovic has a different view.
“I have nothing to hide, but it is a major concern because a lot of it is supposed to stay confidential. It’s not supposed to go out. Especially not during the meetings.” He said.
“Obviously there is someone that has been feeding an information from inside. I don’t know who that is. I guess we might never find out. But it is disappointing for a lot of players because they don’t feel comfortable. That was a trigger because of which Robin decided to step down, and many others.”
The Players’ council issue advisory decisions of the board of directors and members are elected by their peers. It is unclear as to if any more resignations will follow.
