Why is the ousting of Chris Kermode such a divisive issue between Federer, Nadal and Djokovic?

As the ongoing Indian Wells tournament is throwing up major surprises, with some top names leaving and young guns ruling the roost, something of even greater significance has been happening in the background. In the lead-up to Indian Wells the ATP Players' Council voted to remove Chris Kermode as the President of the ATP World Tour.

Kermode had been appointed as the ATP head in 2013.

It was reported that the president of the ATP Players Council, Novak Djokovic, has been instrumental in Kermode losing the vote, and eventually the Presidency.

Even though Djokovic didn't reveal which side he was on during the whole process, maintaining "confidentiality", his position was clearly understood by the statements made by fellow compatriots Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal after the voting.

Both Federer and Nadal said that they were not informed about the procedure; Federer even said that he had a meeting planned with Djokovic which never happened, because of the latter's unavailability.

Why are Federer and Nadal in support of Kermode?

During Kermode's reign as the supremo, ATP has seen an enormous increase in the prize moneys of various tournaments. It has also been witness to fully packed courts and the introduction of the Next Gen ATP Finals, which is a great boost for the youngsters.

Federer and Nadal were impressed with these initiatives by Kermode, and they wanted him to continue beyond 2019.

On the other hand, there was an accusation from some players that the money they were getting from participating in various tournaments was not sufficient. This concern was spear-headed by Djokovic, who has always been a reformist, striving for change.

What next?

The successor to Kermode has not been announced yet, and there is a fair bit of ambiguity about that. Meanwhile, Federer said in an interview recently that he wanted to take part in the political side of the tour as he was concerned about the sport he loves the most.

Coming to the results in Indian wells, Djokovic was today stunned by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round 4-6, 4-6 but he won his doubles encounter along with Fabio Fognini a while later.

Women's No. 1 Naomi Osaka also lost, going down to Belinda Bencic 3-6, 1-6 in a game that lasted a little over an hour.

Both Federer and Nadal won their third round matches with victories over Stan Wawrinka and Diego Schwartzman respectively. On the other hand, the young Canadian sensation Denis Shapovalov defeated Marin CIlic and is on course to meet Federer in the quarter-finals.