Tension between the three biggest names in men’s tennis appeared on the rise after Djokovic, Head of the ATP Player Council, rebuffed a request by Federer to meet during the BNP Paribas in Indian Wells, earlier this month to talk about the future of ATP Chairman Chris Kermode.
In spite of a tenure which brought record prize money and growth, Kermode was ousted as ATP chief when players’ representatives on the ATP board failed to endorse an extension of the Englishman’s contract.
As leader of the 10 member Player Council, Djokovic had been pushing for change, while Federer and Nadal backed Kermode or at the least felt the issue needed more discussion.
“I saw Roger today, we were in the opening ceremony cutting the ribbon on center court,” said Djokovic during his pre-tournament news conference on Wednesday.
“We had a brief chat, there was no time to talk about the political stuff.
“That is hopefully something we will have time in the next few days to go through.
“It’s not important for you guys to create any tensions between us. In contrary I have great relations with both of them.”
With Kermode’s status decided, Federer said on Wednesday that he was still willing to chat with Djokovic, but with the decision made saw no rush to meet.
“A lot has been decided already so we’ll see if this week is going to happen or not, but we are not chasing each other at this point,” said Federer. “If it happens, fine.”
For his part Djokovic seemed eager to wash his hands of the entire affair reminding everyone that it was the three player’s representatives on the ATP board that voted not to renew Kermode’s contract and not the Player Council, which was only part of the discussion.
The Serb added that if Federer and Nadal have opinions they were welcome to share them with the Player Council at any time.
“The player council is only part of the structure,” said Djokovic. “We are not part of the board or deciding anything that is voted on later on.
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