ATP To Relieve Their Chief Chris Kermode From His Rank

Published 03/07/2019, 4:49 PM EST

Follow Us

via Imago

The executive chairman and president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Chris Kermode to step down from his chief rank as his six-year-old tenure at ATP’s seat of authority expires at the end of the 2019 tennis season. He began his venture at the helm of ATP at the beginning of the year 2014.

The in-charge and the key person of ATP, Chris Kermode and his efforts have skyrocketed the attendance and viewership of the ATP Tour, his vision for the men’s tour adjoined new events on the ATP calendar. Under the administration of Chris Kermode, ATP has added contests such as the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan and also the forthcoming ATP Cup tournament in the year 2020, which is in affiliation with Tennis Australia. From the perspective of a firm, men’s tour has sprouted commercially and has witnessed record prize money while Chris Kermode was directing the ATP board. 

via Imago

“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,” the ATP chief, Chris Kermode mentioned. “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.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Imago

As the 54-year-old, Chris Kermode will be completing his second three-year agreement with the highest federation of men’s tennis, the 17-time Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal considers the substitution of Chris Kermode would be futile for ATP right now. “I believe in long-term projects,” the Spaniard said. “I am not a very big fan of changing things very often. I really think there’s a lot of things to do – we need to sign a contract for the World Tour Finals, and there’s a new ATP Cup. When you change, you go through a process.”

“A new president needs time to know all the things and create a team, so in my opinion changing the president will stop the process of improving our sport. I personally believe Chris did a good job. He is a good guy, who did good things for our sport and it would be good if he stays for a while more,” the World Number two tennis player, Nadal continued.

However, there are some professionals who bother about the service extension of Chris Kermode. The member of the Player Council, the Canadian tennis player Vasek Pospisil argues for the players not receiving enough of the income relative to what the sport earned. “We need a CEO that first and foremost represents OUR interests,” he wrote in the letter to his fellow colleagues. “We need a structure that prevents influence peddling by the deep-pocketed tournaments. In short, we need to start acting and running like a business, not like a bunch of scared kids.”

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali

1,909Articles

One take at a time

Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
Show More>