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January 10, 2018

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ATP pledges shake-up after 4 players quit

Men鈥檚 tennis boss Chris Kermode Tuesday pledged a shake-up in ATP rules as four players pulled out of the Auckland Classic before their opening matches, citing injury or illness.

Four lucky losers from the qualifying tournament found themselves on center court as Ryan Harrison, Andrey Rublev, Guido Pella and Kyle Edmund all withdrew. By turning up in Auckland, the players became eligible for first-round prize money and avoided an ATP fine.

Kermode, executive chairman of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), warned that rules around withdrawals were under review. But he also said he believed the players鈥 reasons for pulling out.

鈥淭he bigger concern would be players pulling out before they got here, that would be an issue,鈥 Kermode told Fairfax Media in Auckland.

鈥淭hey make the effort to come to the event and that鈥檚 demonstrated the desire to play here. Tennis is such a physical sport that these things are going to happen. We are currently doing a whole review process of our business and plans for 2019. Ranking points, player withdrawals and how we deal with that is something we鈥檝e got to and are looking at.鈥

Harrison, who lost the Brisbane International final to Nick Kyrgios on Sunday, said he was too tired to play after arriving in Auckland early yesterday.


 

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