Chris Kermode

Chris Kermode
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born (1965-01-13) 13 January 1965 (age 59)
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$447
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 742 (10 February 1986)
Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 284 (4 February 1985)

Chris Kermode (born 13 January 1965) is a retired English male tennis player, a former tournament director and the executive chairman & president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) from 2014 to 2019.

On 20 November 2013 Kermode was appointed as the ATP executive chairman & president to succeed Brad Drewett who died of an illness in May 2013. His three-year term started on 1 January 2014, and he is based in the ATP’s London office.[1][2] On 7 March 2019 the ATP announced that Kermode would leave his position at year-end.[3] An article on ESPN.com[4] suggests Kermode's departure was due to a "palace coup engineered" in part by Novak Djokovic.

Kermode has been involved in tennis for more than 30 years. Following his modest career as a professional player from 1985 to 1988, Kermode worked in London as a tennis coach and later served as the tournament director of the Queen's Club Championships.[5] From 2008 to 2014 he has been the managing director of the ATP World Tour's season-ending event ATP World Tour Finals. In addition Kermode has worked in the music and film business.[6]

Before being appointed by the ATP Kermode applied for the position of chief executive at the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) but was not selected.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Briton Chris Kermode named as new ATP executive chairman". www.bbc.com. BBC Sport. 20 November 2013.
  2. ^ "ATP appoints Chris Kermode as ATP Executive Chairman and President". ATP World Tour. 20 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Kermode To Depart ATP At The End Of 2019". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 7 March 2019.
  4. ^ Bodo, Peter (2 April 2019). "Federer's excellence, Serena's future and more March takeaways". ESPN.com.
  5. ^ "Behind the Scenes with Tournament Director Chris Kermode". Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
  6. ^ Roger Blitz (25 June 2014). "Chris Kermode knows how Wimbledon's tennis stars are feeling". Financial Times.
  7. ^ Kevin Mitchell (12 November 2013). "Chris Kermode: good enough to run world tennis but rejected by the LTA". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Paul Newman (24 September 2013). "LTA turns to 'cheaper' Michael Downey as new head". The Independent.