Etienne de Villiers (pictured) announced this morning that he will be leaving the ATP as Executive Chairman and President after his contract expires in December. He has been under a lot of fire from all the top players including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who disagreed with some of his decisions throughout his time as boss.According to published statements on tennis.com, Nadal met with de Villiers in Monte Carlo this past spring.
“I have nothing more to say to this man. We spoke to him last year, trying to understand why he is doing these things but it is impossible, it’s a waste of time.”
Nadal was referring to the crowded ATP tournament calendar.
The former Disney executive who was named Executive Chairman in June 2005, lost support from many top players due to aggressive experiments such as round-robin events that ultimately failed. In March this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, every Top 20 player signed a petition to each member of the ATP Tour Board of Directors demanding that de Villiers’ contract not be renewed at the end of 2008.
The South African will help find a successor.
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1 comment:
I think it's a good thing he decided to step down as boss of the ATP. All those ridiculous decisions :$
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