This year has seen the men’s tour hit by various political disagreements concerning a range of topics. So when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal returned to the ATP Players Council, it was hoped that those disagreements would soon disappear. However, this has failed to be the case.
Vasek Pospisil, who is also a member of the 12-person council, has criticised the two grand slam champions over their commitment to increasing the percentage of the sports revenue issued to players. The 29-year-old is a vocal supporter to changes being made. In August Pospisil said that only 14% of the revenue is currently given to players. In an article written for The Globe and Mail, he argued that the increase is needed in order to help the lower ranked players survive on the tour.
“Tennis has the lowest revenue sharing of all professional sports that have become a global business. Even the 14 percent is not an audited figure. This number could, potentially, be quite a bit less.” Pospisil wrote during the Rogers Cup.
“This low revenue share, in turn, means only a handful of tennis players can make a good living in a sport that makes billions of dollars and in which athletes have perhaps the highest out-of-pocket expenses compared with other sports.”
Calling for changes to be made, Pospisil has taken a swipe at both Federer and Nadal for their lack of commitment to his cause. The duo are one of three players to have made more than $100 million in prize money along with Novak Djokovic. Nadal represents top 50 players in the council and Federer is a member at-large.
“Unfortunately, they [Nadal and Federer] haven’t supported the movement,” Pospisil told The Daily Hive earlier this week.
“From my conversations with Roger and what they [Federer and Nadal] say in the press, I think they acknowledge that there’s an issue, but unfortunately, they haven’t followed with what the 80-plus top hundred players have signed on for.”
Disagreements and spats within the council is nothing new. The decision to remove Chris Kermode from his position as ATP CEO earlier this year triggered a divide between players as to if it was the right decision or not. Then there was also the turmoil surrounding former board member Justin Gimelstob, who was found guilty of assault, and who should replace him.
Speaking about his two rivals, Pospisil believes they are not the right people to be negotiating financial deals. Arguing that the task should be down to somebody with expertise in the area.
“They’re not they’re not the type of guys, in my opinion, that should be negotiating complicated details of financials and the way that money is distributed. We need guys that have studied that for decades.” He said.
As for council president Djokovic, the Canadian has hailed his work to improve the tour for all players and not just those at the top. The world No.2 has been previously accused of being a key driving force behind the removal of Kermode. Although there was never any conclusive evidence disclosed to the public that he did so.
“Novak has been incredible,” said Pospisil. “Honestly, I didn’t really know him too well before I got on the player council with him. We sort of bonded and in the sense that we both look at the issues the same way and we have very visions on how we think the tennis world needs to improve.”
“He’s sometimes misunderstood on the court. He’s he plays a lot of passion and fire, but honestly when in the player council room he’s really fighting for all the players, even lower-ranked guys.”
Pospisil is currently ranked 149th in the world. He has claimed that 70 top 100 players on the women’s tour support some kind of partnership regarding his push for an increased share of the revenue. Although Ubitennis are unable to confirm this.
List of ATP Council members
At-Large: Novak Djokovic – President
1-50 Singles: Kevin Anderson – Vice President
1-50 Singles: Rafael Nadal
1-50 Singles: John Isner
1-50 Singles: Sam Querrey
51-100 Singles: Yen-Hsun Lu
51-100 Singles: Vasek Pospisil
1-100 Doubles: Jurgen Melzer
1-100 Doubles: Bruno Soares
At-Large: Roger Federer
Coach: Brad Stine
Alumni: Colin Dowdeswell
