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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Tennis-Simon, Daniell and Andujar join ATP Council after Djokovic withdrawal

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - September 29, 2020 France's Gilles Simon in action during his first round match against Canada's Denis Shapovalov REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Gilles Simon, Marcus Daniell and Pablo Andujar were voted as the new members on the 2021-22 ATP Players Council, the governing body for men's tennis said on Tuesday, days after world number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of the elections.

Djokovic set up the breakaway Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA) on the eve of the U.S. Open in September after he resigned as the head of the player council.

Last month, the Serb confirmed he had been nominated for the council election by his fellow professionals.

FILE PHOTO: Sep 2, 2019; Flushing, NY, USA; Pablo Andujar of Spain smiles on the court against Gael Monfils of France (not pictured) in the fourth round on day eight of the 2019 US Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

However, the Serb was forced to withdraw from the election after a new ATP rule deemed his role with the PTPA a conflict of interest.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil had also resigned from the council earlier this year to support Djokovic's efforts in the formation of PTPA.

France's Simon returns to the council having served previous terms, while newcomers Andujar of Spain and New Zealand's Daniell will serve their first term.

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - ATP 250 - Stockholm Open - Men's Doubles Final - Royal Tennis Hall, Stockholm, Sweden, October 21 2018 New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands against Britain's Luke Bambridge and Jonny O'Mara (not pictured). Soren Andersson/TT News Agency/via REUTERS

The ATP also confirmed Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime, John Millman, Kevin Anderson, Andy Murray and Bruno Soares have been retained for the term through June 2022.

The decision to form the PTPA blindsided many players with Federer and Nadal voicing their opposition.

But Djokovic has maintained that the PTPA wants to co-exist with the sport's governing bodies, saying it was not a rival organisation and that it was set up to better protect the interests of the players.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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