By Chris Oddo | Sunday, June 22, 2014
After six years as president of the ATP's player council, Roger Federer is stepping down.
Photo Source: Corleve
Having served as the President of the ATP's Player Council since 2008, Roger Federer has elected not to run for a fourth consecutive term.
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The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who has helped usher in a new era of financial success for professional tennis, says he needs to taper down his responsibilities in order to spend time with his wife and four children.
"It gets quite busy and I think that's one of the reasons now I think it's a good time for me to let it run its course and have somebody else lead the council from here on,” Federer told ATPworldtour.com. “I really enjoyed it and I'll still be involved in some shape or form. If I do it, I want to do it at 100 per cent and I feel like my life now, with my family and my tennis, that's a difficult part right now.”
Federer says he’s proud of what he’s accomplished during his six-year tenure as President of the Council. “Leading by example, being there, putting in the time, showing the other players that you actually can find time for the council and for the tour,” said Federer. “We achieved prize money increases. I hope I was able to make more players understand that this is a 50/50 organization with the tournaments. That's very important to understand.”
Others agree that Federer’s contribution was noteworthy. "What Roger's done is remarkable because after generations of our very best tennis players not being involved in the sport from a governing standpoint, he took the bull by the horns and decided he was going to lead," Todd Martin, long-serving President in the late '90s, told ATPworldtour.com.
“The ATP World Tour is in terrific health today, not only as a result of the performance of our top players on the court, but also due to their considerable efforts off it,” added ATP executive chairman Chris Kermode. “Generous with his time and always willing to invest his energy away from the court for the greater good of the game, Roger and his leadership in the Player Council will be missed.”
Federer’s replacement will be named later in the season, when the newly elected player council meets in New York prior to the U.S. Open.
Stan Wawrinka will join the council for the first time this year. Other members are: Kevin Anderson, Gilles Simon, John Isner, Jurgen Melzer and Sergiy Stakhovsky for singles, Raven Klaasen and Bruno Soares for doubles, Yves Allegro for alumni, and Claudio Pistolesi as coach.
“It’s a very interesting time in our sport,” Wawrinka said, “and I’m looking forward to being able to contribute my time and energy to the Player Council in our efforts to continue to grow the ATP World Tour in years ahead.”