Federer wants to be more involved in ATP decisions despite bemoaning the long-standing politicsGETTY IMAGES
Roger Federer has "declared himself ready ... to return to ATP politics for the first time since he stepped down from the player council presidency" in '14, according to Simon Briggs of the London TELEGRAPH. In the wake of last week's ousting of ATP President & Exec Chair Chris Kermode, Federer said that he "plans to work" with his former VP Rafael Nadal. Federer: "Everything (in tennis) is going great and then you talk about politics and you're like 'Oh my God, what's going on here?'" He added, "We need to decide who the new CEO's gonna be. The political side of the game has to do that, but I think I'd like to take an active role." Briggs noted the decision to remove Kermode has "provoked an outcry from ATP tournaments and players." The reasoning behind it has "yet to be explained by any members of the small faction ... who have spent recent months agitating behind the scenes." Federer said that he had "tried to hold a discussion" with Player Council President Novak Djokovic before the vote in Indian Wells last week, but "without success." Meanwhile, Nadal also "expressed frustration at the lack of consultation behind the player council's vote" (London TELEGRAPH, 3/12). Federer said of the Kermode decision, "It's just important to know why it happened, and what happens now. I want to know what the motivation was, what Kermode has not done" (TENNIS.com, 3/11).
BETWEEN A ROCK & A HARD PLACE: In N.Y., Christopher Clarey wrote the tension is "between the players, who understandably want to maximize their earnings in a brutally competitive sport, and their paymasters, who own and operate the tournaments and understandably would rather keep prize money under tight rein." But the "unusual and inconvenient thing in men's tennis is that the players and paymasters are part of the same internally conflicted organization: the ATP." Former Players Council member Gilles Simon said, "We are really blocked. The structure works against us and the imbalance being already there between the tournaments and the players, the imbalance endures" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/12).
