Djokovic was quizzed in his pre-tournament press conference (Picture: TPN/Getty Images)

There is, as ever, a feeling of unrest in tennis with the future of ATP president Chris Kermode up in the air.

Kermode’s term as men’s tennis chief comes to an end in 2019, with the ATP player council set to decide on whether or not to renew his contract.

The 10-man council are not set to decide on Kermode’s future until later this year, but it’s claimed that an informal vote took place last night among nine of the players, with five voting in favour of Kermode being removed.

Council president Novak Djokovic said: ‘I don’t know where you got that information, a 5-4. Those informations are completely confidential, so I can’t speak about anything that we spoke in that room.


Kermode’s position is under threat (Picture: Getty Images)

‘As I said, the decision hasn’t been made on the president. He’s still president. He’ll remain president till the end of his term. Whether there’s a renewal or not, it’s going to be decided in the next period.’



Roger Federer insisted he is unaware of the finer details of the situation, but announced his intention to speak with Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal to discuss the situation.

‘I don’t know about the council situation,’ he added. ‘I was going to speak to some of the council members, I’m practising with one of them this afternoon, Robin Haase. I would like to hear a little bit from him how the council meeting went.

‘Where their general feel is about leadership in the ATP, I think we’ve had a good five, six years now under Chris’ leadership. Obviously it’s an important role. We need to look at it very thoroughly. I need to speak with Novak, Rafa, and Andy a little bit just to get their take on it all.

Federer is not on the council (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Yeah, with the board member, we know the situation. It’s pending. We’re waiting to see what’s going to happen. I know him well. So we’ll see what the situation is there.

‘But it’s definitely interesting times, I’d like to call it, not bad times in our sport. I think it’s maybe also a bit of a transition time. So it will be interesting to see what’s going to happen. I think with the ATP Cup and also the Davis Cup, we need to wait and see what happens, really to be quite honest, to be able to give a true opinion.

‘Yeah, a lot is happening. But, you know, it’s all okay, whatever. I don’t think it’s bad.’

A lot certainly is happening. Kermode’s future is not the only hot topic of conversation regarding the council.

Jutin Gimelstob has managed to cling on to his position on the board amid allegations of assault but Djokovic and vice-president Kevin Anderson both stated their view that he should be able to allow to continue in his role until proven guilty.

Gimelstob’s position has been a major talking point (Picture: Getty)

Anderson said on Friday: ‘It’s a very difficult issue. I think the general view has been, the amount of general work Justin has done for the players… I feel like he’s done a really good job.

‘The passion and care he brings to the sport and to helping players is definitely worthy of seeing this out. If the accusations are deemed accurate and true, I don’t think he should be a board member anymore.’

Djokovic echoed those views: ‘Look, I am comfortable, as all of the council members, because that’s what we decided in our meetings and conference calls that we had in last couple of months on that topic. Obviously, that’s an ongoing process and trial. Those are all now allegations in the moment.



‘If he is not proven guilty, he stays innocent, or he’s proven guilty, that’s a completely different situation for us and we have to address it.

Anderson explained the council’s position (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

‘Now he’s been there and he’s been someone that has always fought for the players’ rights and represented players in a great way. That’s highly respected amongst the players, that’s for sure, because he’s one of the guys that’s been longest on the board, involved in tennis as a tennis player, coach, someone that really has a lot of enthusiasm and energy obviously.

‘I can’t say more about his trial because I don’t know. I’m not eligible. I’m not in a position to talk about it. I will let authorities deal with that, and we’ll see what happens when we hear what’s the end line.’

Gimelstob’s personal life has come under the microscope since his arrest, with The Telegraph claiming he has used homophobic language and been involved in various physical altercations beyond the alleged attack on venture capitalist Randall Kaplan on Hallowe’en.

His continued involvement in decision-making on the ATP Tour is not a particularly great look for tennis – a period of suspension until criminal charges were dealt with would surely have been the best course of action – while Djokovic was also challenged on the controversial election of Sergiy Stakhovsky to the council at the start of this year after Stefano Travaglia stepped down.

Stakhovsky’s appointment was controversial (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Stakhovsky generated headlines when he claimed half of the WTA Tour are lesbians and that he ‘for sure won’t send his daughter to play tennis’ but Djokovic defended his appointment.


‘You can always focus on the negatives,’ he said. ‘Sure, there’s always a person or two or three that in the past has stated something that is maybe not appropriate.

‘Sergiy has been very involved and contributing a lot to the politics in tennis in a positive way, trying to represent a lot of players, especially that are ranked between 50 and 100. He contributed a lot to the challenger level improvements. So there are a lot of positives about him.

‘Certainly you pointed out the negative. I can’t say much about that. But he’s one of the 10 players in the council. There’s a lot of positives to point out, as well.’

The issue of support – or lack of it – for lower-ranked players is something Djokovic has been keen to push.

‘Some people, maybe some media as well, just comes across this information as it’s me, as part of the council, some of the top players that are fighting for more money for ourselves, which is not true at all,’ he said.

Djokovic wants more players to be able to make a living (Picture: Getty)

‘I have to mention that because we are focused on distribution, equal distribution, and we are focused more on the earlier rounds, last rounds of qualification, first several rounds of Grand Slams, getting more job opportunities and increasing also the number of tennis players that can live out of this sport.

‘One of the things from yesterday’s general meetings that is kind of echoing in my ear is that there’s this, so to say, conviction of people generally in sport, including us, that only a hundred players can live out of this sport.


‘That’s something that ATP is definitely, us as players, part of the council, are trying to change. We’re trying to increase the number of players that are able to travel around the world, not just cover expenses, have the full team, have a decent living out of the sport that they play.

‘I think a lot of the attention and the focus is on the top players, how much are the winners of Grand Slams earning, which is a very significant sum of money, absolutely.

‘Last year the US Open has announced obviously huge additional money towards the winner’s sum. But I think it’s important to try to focus more on the earlier rounds, kind of expand that field.’

The battle for power in the ATP has led to a feeling of real uncertainty at a time when huge changes, namely the introduction of the ATP Cup and the newly-formatted Davis Cup, are on the way.

Djokovic is believed to be one of the players who voted against Kermode staying on in his role as CEO but there appears to be a real split among ATP stars over his future. Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios were among those to publicly back him this week.

Whether he ultimately stays or goes, there remain plenty of unresolved issues. These are fascinating times in the tennis world.