(Reuters) – Gilles Simon, Marcus Daniell and Pablo Andujar were voted as the new members on the 2021-22 ATP Players Council, the governing body for men’s tennis said on Tuesday, days after world number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of the elections.
Djokovic set up the breakaway Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) on the eve of the U.S. Open in September after he resigned as the head of the player council.
Last month, the Serb confirmed he had been nominated for the council election by his fellow professionals.
However, the Serb was forced to withdraw from the election after a new ATP rule deemed his role with the PTPA a conflict of interest.
Canadian Vasek Pospisil had also resigned from the council earlier this year to support Djokovic’s efforts in the formation of PTPA.
France’s Simon returns to the council having served previous terms, while newcomers Andujar of Spain and New Zealand’s Daniell will serve their first term.
The ATP also confirmed Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime, John Millman, Kevin Anderson, Andy Murray and Bruno Soares have been retained for the term through June 2022.
The decision to form the PTPA blindsided many players with Federer and Nadal voicing their opposition.
But Djokovic has maintained that the PTPA wants to co-exist with the sport’s governing bodies, saying it was not a rival organisation and that it was set up to better protect the interests of the players.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
