Men's tennis chief forced out in bombshell 'player revolt'

Chris Kermode will leave his post as ATP President at the end of 2019 after a stunning ‘player revolt’ effectively forced him out.

The decision not to extend Kermode’s tenure was made at a meeting of the ATP Board on Thursday, and comes amid divided opinion among players as to whether the Brit was the best person to take the game forward.

Kermode became ATP Executive Chairman and President at the beginning of 2014 and has overseen big increases in prize money for players, created new events, and supported new progressive rules for injured players.

“It’s been a privilege to serve as ATP Executive Chairman & President since 2014 and I’m very proud of what we have achieved during this time,” Kermode said in a statement.

“I would like to thank everyone at the ATP, and all the players and tournaments for the support over the years.

“I remain fully dedicated to the role for the remainder of my term and wish the organisation every success in the future.”

Some players, including Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, previously expressed their desire to see the 54-year-old continue in the job.

But members of the Player Council, including its President and World No.1 Novak Djokovic, said they wanted to see a change.

The Council met privately for over six hours on Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to discuss Kermode’s future, evidently coming to the decision that they wanted him out.

Fellow Player council member Vasek Pospisil also argued for change, wanting increases in prize money for lower ranked players at grand slams.

“Grand slams which report hundreds of millions of dollars in profit … yet we get less in prize money than 10 per cent of their revenue,” he wrote in an email sent to players ranked between 50-100 at the Australian Open in January.

“Our system is broken … it’s time for a change.”

Federer has previously expressed his desire to speak with the Player Council before a decision was made, but that doesn’t appear to have happened.

At the Australian Open, Nadal also said Djokovic had not been in touch to sound him out about Kermode.

“I am not in the council any more, and at the same time, nobody from the council side came to me and asked me my opinion,” he said in January.

“Was the first information I had that maybe Chris is not continuing. But I suppose if some crucial decisions like this, I understand that somebody from the council should come to me and ask my position.”

Wawrinka’s furious swipe at fellow players

Also at the Australian Open, a furious letter penned by Stan Wawrinka exposed the huge rift in men’s tennis.

According to the UK Telegraph, Wawrinka wrote: “YOU NEED TO LOOK AT THE CURRENT DIRECTION LAST 5 YEARS AND ACCEPT IT IS GOOD AND MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. YOU CANNOT BE SURE IT WILL BE BETTER [under a new ATP president].”

The Telegraph said Wawrinka’s letter had been passed around the locker room.

“I did not want to spend time writing this the day before a grand slam here in Australia but I am reading crazy things online about player council voting against the CEO yesterday,” it says.

“In the player meeting yesterday Andy Murray stand up and said that no player knows that any vote is happening and no players have been asked their opinion.

“You emailed us Friday telling us your opinion because of grand-slam money and the players’ voice of the ATP and that we need to change CEO.

“I completely disagree and know so many players and so many top players that COMPLETELY disagree with this. The sport and ATP are trying and I repeat moving good forward.

“In player meeting yesterday, it said the players vote for the ATP is at highest marks ever in history. What is the problem?”

with agencies