The ATP Players’ Council is open to diluting its position on Wimbledon’s elimination of all points in the standings ahead of the decisive talks in Paris on Friday.
In the final round of the Wimbledon rankings, ATP player board member Bruno Soares revealed that they were open to a reversal of the decision whether Allim officials England Tennis Club demonstrated their ability to collaborate.
Soares, the pair of Jamie Murray doubles and a veteran member of the players’ union, told reporters on Wednesday that until the game starts at SW19, “there was always room for change,” whether it’s a full turn or a reduction. of the sentence.
Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton and President Ian Hewitt are due to arrive in Paris on Friday to attend the French Open, where they will inevitably face talks over the split between the dressing room, the Grand Slams and the set of sport.
But if players want to weaken their position and push for the ranking points to freeze instead of eliminating them completely, Soares said SW19 will also have to show a willingness to alter its position, which he said. which they did not do when they decided to ban Russian. and Belarusian players from this summer’s tournament.
“I think there’s always room for conversation,” said 40-year-old Soares. “I think if Wimbledon is willing to work together, with the players and with everyone, I think there’s room for that. The frustration of the players is not being part of the decision-making process.”
Last week, the WTA and ATP made the decision, with the support of their player councils, to remove Wimbledon from the qualifying points in response to the Russian and Belarusian athlete tournament ban.
The dispute has caused a rift between the players, with a number claiming that they were not consulted by their respective councils on something that will greatly alter their ranking and therefore their ability to participate in tournaments.
Soares said the main cause was poor communication from the All England Club, and while he believed the ban on Russian and Belarusian players would not be reversed, he left the door open for Wimbledon organizers to save the day.
“Right now everyone is talking to each other, and there’s a lot of discussion, and that could be avoided by just rewinding three months ago and [the AELTC] doing exactly the same thing before making an important decision, “Soares said.” I would sit at the table and say ‘how can we work together to turn a bad situation into something positive?’ Honestly, until the tournament starts there is room to change that decision. I don’t think about it [Russia/Belarus] ban – I wish, but I don’t think that’s going to happen – but something else [points] it’s about conversation “.
On Wednesday, two-time champion Andy Murray intervened on the saga and countered suggestions from Naomi Osaka and others that he could skip Wimbledon, as he had effectively downgraded to an “exhibition” event.
“I would venture to guess that most people watching Wimbledon Court Center in a few weeks would not know or care how many qualifying points a player gets to win a third-round game,” said Murray. is a member of the AELTC, he said in a Twitter post. “But I guarantee they will remember who wins. Wimbledon will never be a show and it will never feel like a show. The end.”
It came as the ATP faced questions on Wednesday night, after it emerged that the terms of office of the members of the players’ council who voted to withdraw Wimbledon points would be extended beyond the tournament. this summer.
Board elections traditionally take place on the eve of Wimbledon every two years, but after the coronavirus crisis forced the cancellation of the 2020 event, the current cohort, which includes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, did not it was voted until December of that year.
However, the ATP then announced that they would serve “until June 2022”, instead of claiming that they would hold a full term. This could have allowed the growing number of players to publicly oppose the withdrawal of Wimbledon points to vote for them before the tournament began and to choose candidates who would support revoking the decision.
But the ATP confirmed on Wednesday that there would be no election until the end of the year before suggesting that its previous announcement had been made in error.