Ousted by Novak Djokovic-led coup, ex ATP chief now joins the triathlon world

In the early days of 2019, the trending topic in tennis was the coup reportedly started by Novak Djokovic to oust the then ATP chariman Chris Kermode. The Player Council's attempt was successful, as Kermode resigned from his position by the end of the year.

The Englishman even took a parting shot at the Player Council president Novak Djokovic, whom he accused of engineering a "palace coup".

However, things seem to be getting back on track for Chris Kermode now. He was recently appointed the vice-chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), which would enable him to continue his work in the sports field.

Chris Kermode has a new job, in a new sport, after being ousted from tennis by a Novak Djokovic-led coup

The ex ATP chief praised his new sport for its gender equality, much akin to tennis. However, he also made a veiled jibe at his former organisation by pointing out the declining interest in tennis and the growing interest in endurance sports like triathlon.

Chris Kermode's departure from ATP, courtesy to Novak Djokovic & Co

The Guardian had called it a "pointless coup". Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were both firmly in the ATP chief's camp. But Novak Djokovic and his anti-Kermode group in the ATP Player Council still succeeded in showing him the door.

There was reported to be visible animosity between Chris Kermode and Novak Djokovic towards the end of the saga. Kermode was friends with both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but never quite got in the good books of Novak Djokovic.

Chris Kermode and Novak Djokovic shared an iffy relationship

It is believed that Kermode heavily pandered to the top, keeping the elite players - and thus the likes of Federer and Nadal - happy, while not allowing much prize money to flow to the lower-ranked players. That drove Novak Djokovic to the conclusion that the ATP chief had to go in order to achieve a fairer prize distribution system.

However, Novak Djokovic's argument was not watertight. Even as his protests over the prize money distribution were ongoing, Wimbledon and most of the other Slams and Masters had kept increasing their purse - thus ensuring higher volume of prize money to the lower-ranked players anyway.

The Player Council vote led by Novak Djokovic went against Kermode, but it wasn't surprising that many players and staff members were upset with the decision. Stan Wawrinka's former coach Magnus Norman came out in support for Kermode, tweeting: "Sad day for the ATP Tour. Incredible job this man (Kermode) did for the players and the tournaments. Nothing but respect."

Andy Murray's mother Judy had simply tweeted: “Sad to read this”. Meanwhile former US Open runner-up Greg Rusedski was more elaborate in voicing his support for the ousted ATP boss, saying: “Surprising announcement considering all he achieved during his tenure. Can’t wait to hear from the players and board members the reasons."

Tennis has seen a decline in participation: Chris Kermode

All of that is in the past though, and Chris Kermode seemed quite satisfied while accepting his role in the world of triathlon.

Chris Kermode has fired a warning to tennis

Kermode also fired what can be considered a parting shot at tennis by saying that the class-pandering sports are quickly becoming a thing of the past, and that sports like triathlon could start bagging a higher share of the sponsorship pie.

"The demographics for the participants and fans are very similar in that both are world-wide sports and have huge appeal to a higher-end demographic," Kermode said. "This is very valuable to potential global sponsors. In the past decade or so, participation in sports like golf and tennis have seen declines and endurance sports (like triathlon) have picked up the market share they have lost."

Chris Kermode also compared the gender equality in his new sport with that in tennis:

"The gender equality of triathlon and the PTO is very valuable and unique in professional sport. Every so often there are movements for the ATP and the WTA to come together but it is quite complicated and sadly has never gotten off the ground. Triathlon is very, very fortunate to have this equality and it is good to see the PTO dedicated to this."

The ex-ATP chief gave a case in point as to how tennis still follows the divide between men and women created in the 1970s. Attempts to merge the two organisations into one, an idea recently floated by Roger Federer, have never really taken off.

The full effect of Chris Kermode's departure on tennis still remains to be seen. However, the ex-ATP chief made a very valid point regarding the future popularity of tennis.

The sport needs to start preparing for what's next after Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. It badly needs a plan to retain its currently huge fan-base once these legends hang up their rackets, and Kermode could have possibly helped with that.