By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday June 30, 2019
The latest round of ATP elections came with the levels of controversy that have become par for the course. Held on Friday at Wimbledon with the purpose of electing a replacement for recently departed Justin Gimelstob on the ATP Board of Directors, the vote has resulted in the temporary election of Weller Evans and the near simultaneous resignation of 40 percent of the ATP’s Player Council.
In a strange twist, the Player Council was reportedly split down the middle on which candidate to hire to take Gimelstob’s recently vacated post, Evans or Nicolas Lapentti, but the board eventually settled on Evans in a temporary rather than permanent roll.
That leaves the door open for another vote at the end of the year, but it also gives Evans time in the job, and the influence and power over any future votes that come with it.
Clearly, Evans' installation was not well-received by several long-standing members of the Player's Council.
It didn’t take long for four members of the Player Council—Robin Haase, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Jamie Murray and Daniel Vallverdu—to tender their resignations.
Stakhovsky left the most scathing resignation note on social media, saying that “the matters which will come to light in time completely discredit our structure and free will to perform our obligation and duty to represent the players. It is very sad to see that personal gain and vendettas are at the heart of such a big disconnection in the player’s council.”
Novak Djokovic, the acting President of the Player’s Council, continues to stress that the structure of ATP governance is the root cause of the issue.
“Unfortunately the governing structure is structured in such a way that it does not allow us to make any significant changes at our will,” he said.
Djokovic said that time commitment, like the seven-hour meeting that was held on Friday, and leaks from confidential meetings also contributed to the chaos. The World No.1 admits that the work is taxing but he has thus far resisted the urge to step down and concentrate more on his tennis because he believes in the cause.
“I did consider also stepping down,” he said. “I think my team wants me to step down, honestly. It's obvious. I feel something is telling me from inside that I'm supposed to still stay there because I feel that we are part of the big transitional phase in tennis at the moment.”
Djokovic does have his loyal supporters on the council, and he likely has a greater majority of support now that four have resigned. Vasek Pospisil gave an interview to TSN Canada this weekend and said that he admires how Djokovic has tried to roll up his sleeves and get things done for the players. The Canadian says he and Djokovic have bonded over similar views of the issues pressing men’s tennis at the moment.
At stake is bridging the gap between players and tournaments, and ensuring that the future stars of the ATP gain a larger percentage of revenues and generally have more say in how the sport is operated.
At the moment it is unclear when the Council will reelect four more members or when they will vote on Gimelstob’s vacated seat on the board again.