Federer leads protests against proposed ATP reforms

ATP's top-ranked player, Roger Federer was among several other top players (and other critics) who have deplored the ATP's plans to implement a new calendar starting 2009. In particular, they were unhappy that the decisions--like the downgrade of the current AMS event at Monaco--were reached with little consultation with the players:

I mean, issues like here in Monaco, with the 2009 calendar, and then obviously also things with the ITF, the weeks of Davis Cup. They don't seem to understand that we have a say, so we would like to address this issue through the media for a change.

Apparently the players have made efforts to communicate their concerns to the ATP but felt they were ignored:

The ATP is moving really fast at the moment. (The players), we've had a letter signed several times about the ATP and the ITF about certain issues. ... The players' meeting in Miami was a big disappointment for all of us. ... We had many issues on the table and we couldn't really discuss them at all, and decisions are being taken very soon for 2009, and we would just like to have a little say as well.

Other players like Rafael Nadal and ATP Player Board chair, Ivan Ljubicic, hope that the situation will not come to a point where the players will hold a strike. [Heaven forbid! I don't think I'll survive a season without seeing my favorite players play tennis.] Ljubicic has been quoted as saying:

We don't want it to come to a situation where we say we don't want to play. ... We don't have time to lose. People who will be putting on tournaments in 2009 still don't know what kind of a tournament they will have. It could soon be too late (for player input).

There have long been calls to reschedule tournaments and shorten the ATP calendar to give the players more rest between tournaments and seasons. Also in the wake of the fuss made over Nadal's withdrawal from the just-concluded Davis Cup quarterfinals allegedly due to injury, both current and past players as well as ATP officials have suggested that the scheduling of Davis Cup be coordinated with the ATP calendar to encourage more top players to participate. While this latest proposal by the ATP is a move toward these goals, many agree that the men's tennis sanctioning body is rushing things a bit too much especially especially in light of the recent round-robin fiasco.