Novak Djokovic: Why I SNUBBED Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal advice at Indian Wells
NOVAK DJOKOVIC has explained why the Players’ Council, of which he is the Chairman, opted against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s advice to fire ATP Tour chief Chris Kermode.
Novak Djokovic addresses Chris Kermode 'feud'
A vote was cast last night which saw Kermode’s reign at the head of tennis come to an end.
Federer and Nadal both complained about the notion at their pre-Indian Wells press conference.
But then the cruel axe was swung and Djokovic got his way in a crucial vote of three Players’ Council members and three tournament board members.
World No 1 Djokovic claimed he could not go into too much detail over the decision because of legal reasons.
However, the Serbian tried to explain the main reason for the firing of Kermode.
"It was decided that it's time for us to look into new leadership on the tour," Djokovic said.
"I will not express my personal views as being for or against.
"By sharing that information, I expose myself and become liable to breach of confidentiality.
“I’m not willing to risk that. I respect the governing structure that is bigger than me.
"When you have three votes of the player board and three votes of the tournament board, the president is a tiebreaker in many voting circumstances.
"And in most of the cases, there is a conflict of interest.
“That is something I feel like, as a group, we need to address."
Nadal: Nobody from council asked my opinion on Kermode
Djokovic was pushed further on what major changes he felt was needed in tennis.
"It's hard to define what all the major changes [we want] are," he added.
"We are already experiencing major changes.
“But there are a lot of things happening internally that need to be addressed."