Appointment of star duo is intriguing twist

TENNIS: Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer brought in to join ATP Player Council

The highly charged political situation within men’s tennis took another intriguing turn yesterday when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were both appointed to the ATP Player Council.

Federer and Nadal have been outspoken critics of the direction in which the tour has been taken over the last year with their great on-court rival Novak Djokovic as council president.

The ousting of Chris Kermode as ATP executive chairman and president, and support for Justin Gimelstob, one of the players’ representatives on the board, after he pleaded no contest to a charge of battery have been the biggest flashpoints.

Gimelstob eventually stood down but, after his friend Weller Evans was selected to replace him, Jamie Murray, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Robin Haase subsequently resigned from the council following a meeting before Wimbledon.

It was expected that the remaining members of the council would elect players aligned with their own views to replace them but instead they have chosen to bring in two of the biggest stars in the game along with Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer.

Both Federer and Nadal have previously had spells on the council and clearly want to have more influence on the immediate future of the tour at an important moment in its history.

Djokovic and his allies, in particular Canadian Vasek Pospisil, feel not enough of the revenue from tennis goes to the players and want to push much harder for change.

The next player council meeting will be held in New York prior to the start of the US Open later this month.

Tennis greats Rafael Nadal, left, and Roger Federer.

Jamie Murray, who resigned from the council last month.