Ljubicic Believe ATP Board Should Work Together

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 16th December 2013

Ljubicic Believe ATP Board Should Work Together

A tennis ball with the ATP logo on the court during the match between British Andy Murray and World number two and defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland at the ATP Tennis Masters Cup in the Qi Zhong stadium in Shanghai, China, 14 November 2008. Murray won the match. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN |

Former ATP Players Council president Ivan Ljubicic put a tremendous amount of time into politicking for the betterment of his sport during his long playing career, but he retired in April of 2013 and is now coaching world No. 11 Milos Raonic.

Ljubicic is not as involved in tour politics as much as he used to be, but still has strong opinions on where tennis was and where it is headed. He also served as an ATP Board of Directors member for short term. He was not impressed at his co- board members willingness to compromise.

“I was in that room for a short period of time and my feeling was, not always, but if they players asked for something the tournament reps would automatically vote against it without even analyzing the issue and it’s the other way around too,” he said in an interview with Tennis Journal. “I agree and I have the feeling that the entire board should work exclusively for the good of the sport and when it’s like it has been it’s hard. Until something changes and the board decides to move one direction together rather than the opposite it’s going to be very difficult to do something positive.”

The Croatian also responded to Rafael Nadal’s comments that he doesn’t want to be involved into politics anymore because he suggests things and they never get done. Ljubicic thinks that the players need to understand that the ATP process will always be incremental.

“The process is pretty slow but that’s the way it has to be,” he said. “I understand Rafa’s frustration but that the way things works we have a complicated structure that has to be respected and sometimes its tough to get things through. But when you play Rafa on the tennis court you feel the same way.”

At times, some members of the media ask young players about tour issues and it seems like the players don’t really see the big picture because they are so young. They don’t necessarily understand what a tournament might need, the media, the tour, or the industry as whole.

“When I first came on to the council for the first time I was amazed about the number of things I didn’t know, Ljubicic said. “The tour will give players any information they want but as a player you just don’t walk into a referees’ office wherever you are and ask for information about TV deals, the economy, whatever. I was on the council for six years and then on the board and the amount of information you get is incredible and only then do you get the whole picture and understand that certain things that you were wrong and certain things they in the past were OK.”

When Ljubicic was on the board he said he personally called Federer, Nadal and Djokovic to ask for their involvement. All of them did end up taking Players’ Council seats.

“I felt it was very important to get the top guys,” he said. “That’s how everything started. I really would love players to search for information and when someone from the staff comes to talk to them to give them that 15 minutes on an issue, like why it’s impossible to change the calendar, rather than going out to the press and complaining about it. It doesn’t do anyone any good and it’s wrong as well. I always respected players like David Ferrer who said guys I’m not interested and I don’t care about politics and you do what you think is the best and I trust you. And that’s OK if you are not interested, just leave it, but then don’t go back and complain about things. If you are interested, there’s a space on the council for everybody. There’s information available and you can talk to people, but it’s not a tennis match that you walk in and win or lose. Politics are politics and things are not black or white.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, David Ferrer, Ivan Ljubicic, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News