American tennis player Steve Johnson has said there is a lack of transparency among those running the governing body of men’s tennis in a series of posts published on social media.
The world No.85 has accused members of the ATP Board of putting their priorities ahead of others with there being conflicts of interest. Johnson argues that the current situation is ‘hurting the sport’ as he makes reference to two specific issues.
The first of those is the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells which was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organisers are instead hoping to stage the event later in the season in order to avoid it being cancelled for the second time in a row. Johnson has suggested that Indian Wells have been unable to stage their event whilst offering 100% of prize money due to opposition from other tournament directors who are on the ATP Board.
“Well, what type of system allows Masters 1000 events to pay 60% less when the BNP Paribas Open is trying to host their event at 100% but can’t get approval because other tournament directors are ATP Board members and they want to benefit from these reductions?” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
“The conflicts and lack of transparency are what hurts, not just the players but the sport.
“Everyone loves to throw around “it is about what is best for the sport,” but the actions don’t match the words.”
Johnson is not the first player to call for more transparency in the ATP. Earlier this year John Isner said there should be a clearer picture to show the reasons for the cut in prize money which has been attributed to the pandemic. This year’s prize money pool at the Miami Masters had a 60% cut with the winner claiming $300,110 compared to $1.35 million in 2019. The former world No.8 told reporters in Miami that he feels there needs to be an ‘audit’ of tournament finances by the ATP which he believes has been “plagued by conflict and lack of transparency.”
On the other side of the argument, Australia’s John Milman has hit back at Johnson’s comments about Indian Wells by describing them as ‘simply untrue.’ Saying that the tournament wanted to be held on one specific date.
“Mate they didn’t get approval initially because they weren’t flexible with when they wanted to have the event. Options were given with available weeks, they didn’t want any of them, wanted one specific week,” Millman said to Johnson on Twitter.
“Multiple tournaments were going to be disrupted with their spot that they had locked in for years.. to suggest that they aren’t getting approval because of board members wanting to benefit from prizemoney reductions (due to covid) is simply untrue.”
31-year-old Johnson, who has been ranked as high as 21st in the world, has also hit out at the French Open over their decision to postpone their event by seven days. Organisers hope the move will help maximise their chances of welcoming fans to the event with France currently being in a national lockdown.
“Roland Garros once again unilaterally decides to change the date of their event, disrupting the calendar to accommodate themselves without respect for the consequences and impact it has on the rest of tennis,” he commented.
The decision to delay the French Open did receive approval from the Grand Slam Board prior to an official announcement. As a consequence the grass-court swing has been shortened by a week.
Johnson has won four ATP titles during his career and has played in 32 Grand Slam main draws.
