Federer calls for time-out in ATP rush to reform

MONTE CARLO: Roger Federer on Monday issued a warning to ATP supremo Etienne de Villiers to slow the pace of tennis reform in the face of united opposition from players.

The world number one, flanked by second-ranked rival Rafael Nadal, presented a unified stand from top competitors concerned that the men's sanctioning body is rushing to revise the circuit by 2009.

Those plans looks to include a downgrade of the Masters Series status of the historic Monte Carlo event, being played this week.

"This is a scream for help," said the Swiss, who expressed his frustration that administrators from both the ATP as well as the ITF, which oversees the four Grand Slams, are powering ahead without listening at all to players.

"We've not been happy the past few months. A meeting in Miami was a big disappointment. These decisions need to be taken more slowly, we want a say as well.

"We're the ones out there on court in the tennis shorts, they're not."

Federer and Nadal stand united in asking the ATP to consider carefully the ramifications of cutting the current nine Masters Series tournaments to seven in 2009, with Monte Carlo and Hamburg tipped for likely downgrades.

Both events recently filed suit in Delaware against the ATP.

Shanghai is likely to be added as the eighth Masters after being stripped of the season-ending Masters Cup from 2008.

Federer was among scores of players who recently signed a letter to the ATP, which the Swiss star says the body appears to have taken no notice of.

"We need to speak with the bosses, things are going too fast," said the cautious Swiss amid reports that a provisional 2009 calendar is set to be unveiled within a week or two.

Federer, who admitted that he would much rather be concentrating on his tennis after losing back-to-back matches last month on American hardcourt against Guillermo Canas, is top seed at Monte Carlo this week.

He lost the final in 2006 against Nadal, who won three run-up titles on the way to a second consecutive trophy at the French Open last June.

"I've had many meetings with ET. He listens but then goes and does things his way - I wish he would listen more.

"We've gone from Mark Miles doing nothing to ET doing too much."

While Federer's Swiss upbringing gave his words a serious, non-confrontational tone, there was pure venom from world number three Nikolay Davydenko.

"ET says 'trust me' like all Americans," he said of the South African CEO. "He wants too much trust, you can only believe five or ten percent of his decisions."

The administrator was forced to roll back a controversial experimental round-robin doubles format this spring after it went badly wrong at the Las Vegas tournament, a chaotic situation which Federer in particular had predicted from the start.

Davydenko also questions why none of the four North American Masters Series events were touched in the planned shakeup, leaving the Americans with Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati and Canada with its August event.

Players are particularly incensed that Monte Carlo -European headquarters of the ATP - is set to be downgraded.

"We like Monte Carlo," said the Russian. "That's why we play it. I don't think ET has even seen our letter."

ATP Player Board president Ivan Ljubicic also called for a re-think before it's too late while still maintaining the calm.

"We don't want it to come to a situation where we say we don't want to play," said the Croatian. "ET didn't know much tennis when he took the job (in 2005).

"He's been willing to learn, but it seems like the advice from those around him has not been that good.

"We don't have time to lose. People who will be putting on tournaments in 2009 still don't know what kind of a tournament they will have. It could soon be too late (for player input).

"We don't have much time, it's only a year and a half away."