Top Three in the World Added to Player’s Council

The votes have been cast and the three top-ranked men in the world are now members of the ATP Player Council. Roger Federer was elected to a two-year term Saturday and Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were elected to terms that began Sunday.

Problems have been broiling around the ATP’s decisions as of late, specifically the chairman Etienne De Villiers. The players are unhappy and the ATP is getting heavy-handed: a perfect formula for disaster.

There’s probably going to be people against having the top three players on the council, but I think – on many levels – it’s going to be good for the sport. It means the top players in the world aren’t just existing, taking what they can get from the sport. It means they actually care about where their sport is going and how it gets to where it’s going.

Whether it’s right or acceptable or beneficial for the rest of the population, the world’s top players have a lot of influence and pull with a lot of important people. I’d like to see it used for a good thing.