Jamie Murray was among a number of players stepping down in an attempt to minimize Gimelstob's influenceGETTY IMAGES
Four members of the ATP Player Council became "so frustrated" after a seven-hour meeting last Friday that they "have already resigned," according to Simon Briggs of the London TELEGRAPH. The meeting was "attempting to replace" former ATP BOD member Justin Gimelstob, who pleaded no contest to a felony battery charge in May. The ATP’s political landscape has "become toxic since a split developed" between outgoing ATP President & Exec Chair Chris Kermode and Gimelstob. The whole organization is now "paralysed by deep distrust between the tournaments and the players." Headhunters have been "instructed to seek a successor to Kermode, who was controversially denied a contract extension by the board in March, but it is hard to see how they will find a candidate who will be acceptable to both sides." The two candidates up for debate at the meeting were former player Nicolas Lapentti and former ATP Exec VP/Player Services Weller Evans. The 10-player council "split 5-5 on this issue in Rome, and voted the same way again" on Thursday. The four men who stepped down were Jamie Murray, Robin Haase and Sergiy Stakhovsky, as well as coach Dani Vallverdu, who are all "believed to have been part of the group supporting Lapentti’s candidacy and trying to minimise the influence of Gimelstob" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 6/29).
TIME FOR A CHANGE? TENNIS.com's Matt Fitzgerald noted Novak Djokovic, who serves as the Player Council President, "addressed the situation in great length" at his pre-Wimbledon press conference Saturday. Djokovic said, "It's a system and a structure that keeps on failing us." He added, "Unfortunately the governing is structured in such a way that does not allow us to make any significant changes at our will." Djokovic, who hinted that his team wants him to step down, said that one of his "biggest frustrations in recent months has been the leaking of information behind closed doors." Djokovic: "If someone leaks an information and points out specifically one name or another for voting this way or that way, what's the point of being there and trying to be part of that system? Might as well have cameras and publicly broadcast everything that we talk about" (TENNIS.com, 6/29).
