Roger Federer wants Novak Djokovic ATP showdown talks: 'Good or bad, it’s going to happen'

Kermode’s contract ends at the end of the year and the likes of Djokovic, who is the current ATP council president, are in favour of a player’s union that is separate from the ATP.

And Canadian ace Vasek Pospisil, who represents players ranked between 51 and 100 in the council, appeared to back Djokovic by calling for a change.

A decision on Kermode is expected to be made at the ATP/WTA Indian Wells tournament in March.

Federer, who was council president for six years, said at the Australian Open he wanted to speak to Djokovic and Nadal about the situation as the sport’s three most high profile players.

But Federer has confirmed he was only able to speak to Nadal before he was knocked out of the tournament.

And the Swiss says he now wants to hear from Djokovic.

“I think important was to see how the Davis Cup was going to go a little bit maybe as well, to be quite honest,” Federer said.

“I did speak to Rafa during the tournament. Novak I didn’t see. I guess that was my fault because I lost earlier.

“That robbed me of spending more time there. Yeah, I think to some extent also I have to take a decision if I want to be, you know, involved in any way. Politically I’m not involved. I’m not on the council.

“But I’m always happy to listen and all that stuff. At some point I also have to be careful with the time, Novak’s time as a council president.

“I got to play it the right way. I think my next conversation needs to be with him. I had some meetings also with council members at the Australian Open.

“It’s been quiet recently. It’s always like that. It’s always busy, busy, just before the Australian Open. After that everybody focuses on tennis.

“After that the tour moves on, you don’t see each other any more. Things flatten out. Like you said, things are going to come back to the surface a little bit in Indian Wells. Good or bad, it’s going to happen.”

Last month, Stan Wawrinka lent his support to Kermode, telling the Telegraph: “It [the vote] is big for the sport.

“The most important will be to keep our president. All the things going on behind [the scenes] to try to put pressure on some people, to try to move the actual person, doesn’t feel clean, doesn’t feel good.

“If you look what’s happened the last few years with our president, I think he only helped the tennis to be in a better place. I personally think if you look only at the results – about the tennis, about the image, about the prize money and about everything – he did a great job by upgrading everything.

“I also think that some people have some personal interest for sure. But at the end of the day I also think that you need to see the big picture. What’s the reason for changing? Is the prize money not high enough? Is the calendar not good enough? I don’t know.

“But there should be a reason to move someone at that spot after a few years going quite positive for the tennis. That’s maybe where it’s a bit strange.”

source: express.co.uk