Four Canadians among ATP Player Council candidates

Veteran ATP Player Council member Bruno Soares confirmed Wednesday that Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil – who resigned last August – will be running again for a new term beginning in January.

But Open Court has obtained the list of players who have submitted their candidacy for the various open spots. They have to be nominated by other players, and accept those nominations.

(Djokovic said Wednesday that neither he nor Pospisil actively were seeking it).

And three more Canadians in addition to Pospisil have thrown their maple-leaf ball caps into the ring.

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Auger-Aliassime, Raonic and Pospisil in the running

(*** = current council members)

There are four spots (subject to geographic limits) available for players ranked 1-50. But at least three have to be ranked in the top 25.

Here are the declared candidates:

Novak Djokovic (SRB) (*Resigned from the council Aug. 2020)
***Rafael Nadal (ESP) (*Replaced Robin Haase, who resigned in Aug. 2019)
***Roger Federer (SUI) (*Replaced Sergiy Stakhovsky, who resigned in Aug. 2019)
Milos Raonic (CAN)
***Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) (*Replaced Novak Djokovic who resigned in Aug. 2020)
Casper Ruud (NOR)
***John Millman (AUS) (*Replaced Vasek Pospisil, who resigned in Aug. 2020)

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In the category of players ranked 51 to 100, Pospisil will face competition from several veterans, including three Frenchmen, for two spots.

Pablo Andujar (ESP)
***Jérémy Chardy (FRA) (*Replaced Sam Querrey, who resigned in Aug. 2020)
James Duckworth (AUS)
Yannick Hanfmann (GER)
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)
Cameron Norrie (GBR)
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) (*Resigned from the council Aug. 2020)
Andreas Seppi (ITA)
Gilles Simon (FRA)

Doubles specialists up for council

At least one of the two doubles representatives has to be ranked in the top 50. And one notable candidate is Robin Haase (who resigned two dramas ago back in Aug. 2019), who has decided to run again.

Marcus Daniell (NZL)
Ivan Dodig (CRO)
Andrey Golubev (KAZ)
Robin Haase (NED) (Resigned from the council Aug. 2019)
Oliver Marach (AUT)
Nikola Mektic (CRO)
Marcelo Melo (BRA)
Filip Polasek (SVK)
Tim Puetz (GER)
Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX)
***Bruno Soares (BRA)

At-large members all over the map

The final category, members at large, runs the gamut from current Player Council president Kevin Anderson to doubles specialist Jamie Cerretani. And it also includes little-known Americans Hunter Reese and Nick Chappell.

Two more to be elected from this group.

***Kevin Anderson (RSA) (Replaced Djokovic as president after his resignation)
Jamie Cerretani (USA)
Nick Chappell (USA)
Taro Daniel (JPN)
Jared Donaldson (USA)
Lorenzo Giustino (ITA)
Treat Huey (PHI)
Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA)
Dusan Lajovic (SRB)
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
***Andy Murray (GBR) (*Replaced John Isner, who resigned in Aug. 2020)
Peter Polansky (CAN)
Hunter Reese (USA)
Tommy Robredo (ESP)

Geographical parameters affect council composition

The election doesn’t just come down to which players get the most votes.

There are also geographical parameters to observe, to try to ensure that players from all over the tennis world are represented.

At least four members must be from Europe (but not more than five).

As well, at least one member must be from North America (but no more than three).

And at least one member must be from South America (but no more than three).

For the rest of the planet – Asia and Africa and Oceania – there must be at least two members elected. But not more than four.

There are six from those “international” areas, with longtime council member Yen-Hsun Lu not standing for election again.

Notably, only one candidate hails from from Japan or China – Taro Daniel.

The “international” candidates are Daniel, Aussies John Millman and James Duckworth and Treat Huey of the Philippines. The fifth is current council president Kevin Anderson, and the sixth Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan.

As for South America, Soares and Melo are the only candidates so far.

Voting must be complete by Dec. 28.