Novak Djokovic reveals details on letter sent by most of top 20 players
Before leaving Doha after his loss to Roberto Bautista Agut, confirmed what Kyle Edmunds coach had already revealed last month.
The world No. 1 sent a letter to the International Olympic Committeee to change the rules for the Games qualifying, starting from 2020 Tokyo. A tennis player needs to be picked in three Davis Cup ties over four years in order to play the Olympics.
As quoted by Marca, Djokovic said: The letter was already sent to the Committee because we know that the ITF would not change the rules to be elegible for the Games. It was signed by the 75% of top 20 players and it means something.
As a players council president, I have to defend their rights and thats what I do although it means against the International Tennis Federation. But I am against no one. The ATP authorities know that we are doing.
Djokovic added: I do not agree with the conditions you have to play the Games. You should have more options than just playing the Davis Cup. I do not want to go into how the ITF and (Gerard) Pique reached the agreements but you have a lot of people belonging to the tennis world that do not agree with the new format.
I spoke to Pique in several ways but what he did is not what I liked the most. The initial idea is that there would be more countries involved. From my point of view everything went too fast. You cannot change a tournament like this in such a fast way.
Most of the players did not like the process because it was fast. I like the Davis Cup but there should not be a connection between playing it and the Olympics. About his relationship with the FC Barcelona defender, Djokovic said: I have been having a fair and honest relationship with Pique for three years when the proposal started.
We always said things face to face. We do not agree with some things but always with respect. Djokovics appearance in the Davis Cup final stage in November is highly in doubt. Whats sure is that I will play the ATP World Cup.
I did not decide the other thing (Davis Cup), the 31-year-old concluded. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title
