• Kermode brought down by players’ coup in March• Chief executive says: ‘I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt’
Chris Kermode, the departing head of the ATP, has resisted the temptation to leave the party swinging after six largely successful years, but he admitted on Wednesday that being levered out of the job by a cabal of senior players “did hurt”.
Kermode, an energetic and affable executive chairman and president, was brought down in a players’ coup that began in March when
Novak Djokovic led a revolt against his governance. He leaves next month on the eve of the ATP Cup, his last contribution to the game, which starts on 3 January and runs for 10 days in Perth, Brisbane and
Sydney before the
Australian Open in Melbourne.