Sam Querrey says there were no major resolutions at the ATP players meeting before the start of the Australian Open. There have been rumors that the players voted to give themselves an option to strike, but the American, who is on the ATP Players’ Council, told a small group of reporters that while issues about the length of the calendar and Grand Slam prize money were discussed, "I don’t see anything major. [Calendar issues], Indian Wells and Miami being 12 days tournaments, that's not going to change and I don’t know why the guys don’t give up on that. The guys were standing together, but nothing happened. The schedule was the biggest thing the last couple years and we did good job with saving a week this year and two weeks next year."
The 24-year-old is also pleased that the players will now longer have to count four 500-level tournaments in their rankings (as long as they sign up 12 weeks in advance for the 500s) and can now count their best six 250- and 500-level tournaments. However, eligible players still must enter four 500-level tournaments.
"I thought it was unfair that you were forced to play four 500s," he said. "Because then you don’t really have control of your calendar. I love to play LA and if I do I’m kind of forced to play Washington DC (a 500) and then I’m forced to play next two weeks (Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati) and then the U.S. Open. It takes away the flexibility of your own calendar, which I'm not a huge fan of."
The ATP has been pushing the Grand Slams for years to give the players a bigger percentage of their overall revenues, which the majors have refused to do as three of them—the U.S. Open, the Australian Open, and Roland Garros—are not-for-profit entities and pump their revenues back into the sport. All the majors also traditionally increase prize money annually. The 2012 Australian Open has a total purse of $26 million Australia dollars.
"I want as much prize money as possible for the players at the Slams," Querrey said. "I’d love to see that go up." - Matt Cronin