In the aftermath of the implosion of the ATP Player Council a key question has emerged: What's the deal with the relationship between Player Council president Novak Djokovic and Justin Gimelstob?
Gimelstob resigned from the ATP Board of Directors on May 1st, ending his 11-year tenure on the board. Gimelstob resigned his post after he was sentenced to three years probation in a Los Angeles court after pleading no contest to assault. Yet Gimelstob reportedly continues to exert influence over the ATP political process.
More: Vasek Pospisil on "Broken" ATP Politics
After his Wimbledon second-round sweep of American Denis Kudla, the top-seeded Serbian was asked about his relationship with Gimelstob and the former Ternnis Channel analyst's influence in ATP politics.
Bill Simons of Inside Tennis asked Djokovic if he's read the "devastating" victims' statements in Gimelstob's case. Djokovic said he has not read the statements, but said he plans to do so.
"I will read it. I haven't read it," Djokovic said. "I've spoken to Justin. He has explained to me that he still is going through the process, the legal process. He's not done yet on the court. Obviously I know only his side of the story."
The 15-time Grand Slam champion said he has a "really good relationship with Justin" and suggested Gimelstob's legal issues are ongoing. Previously, Djokovic has said he could envision Gimelstob returning to the sport if his legal issues were resolved.
"I've had, as I mentioned before, really good relationship with Justin," Djokovic said. "I think he is away from our sport at the moment for a reason. I think he needs to take time to deal with this serious matter. We as sport, players, cannot have this kind of disturbance, so to say, in our sport or in our structure. He understands that. If he in the end of this whole process is proven guilty, I mean, obviously there is no support from my side for him to be part of the sport."
Reports emerged that Gimelstob spent time with Djokovic prior to the marathon, contentious seven-hour player meeting in London on Friday night following a vote that elected Weller Evans to fill the departed Gimelstob's seat.
It didn’t take long for three members of the Player Council—Robin Haase, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Jamie Murray—to tender their resignations. Dani Vallverdu also resigned from the board creating a situation veteran Feliciano Lopez calls "a mess."
Questioned about Gimelstob's apparent ongoing influence, Djokovic called the former UCLA all American "a huge asset" to the players, but said if Gimelstob "is guilty about committing a crime...or whatever happened that night, that obviously changes things around for his future role in our sport."
"I am telling you I have very good relationship with him, and I always have," Djokovic said. "I'm not going to lie about that. But if he is guilty about committing a crime, as you said, or whatever has happened that night, that obviously changes things around for his future role in our sport.
"But if that is not the case, then I'm just saying, if that is not the case, then he is a huge asset for our sport and our players. He has always been. He's been representing players very vocally for 10 years. You have mentioned that at the beginning, right?"
The ATP Player Council president's comments came shortly after Player Council member Vasek Pospisil also expressed support for Djokovic and Gimelstob in a Tennis Now podcast interview with Chris Oddo.
Kevin Anderson, who was runner-up to Djokovic in the 2018 Wimbledon final, said he doesn't view Gimelstob's no contest plea as an admission of guilt and suggested he could return to the sport.
"From what I have seen, the no contest is neither admission of guilt or innocence," Anderson told the media at Wimbledon. "So we have to really look at that and see what that means. And I don't know. Justin has said that he wants a chance to sort of explain that better and explain exactly what happened. That's another reason we'll definitely have to wait and see.
"He made, as he self-admittedly so, made a very big mistake in some of his actions about a year ago, and, you know, therefore he decided to step away and try and sort things out. I think we will have to see how time plays out. I think we'll have to see what the situation is, if he does want to come back further down the road, but up until then, I prefer not to speculate. I'd rather look at the facts closer to the time and take it from there."
Photo credit: Justin Gimelstob Facebook