ITF chief unfazed by threat of strike

The head of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said he is optimistic that a threatened strike by leading men’s tennis players will be averted.

“We are in discussion and we are open to listen to what they said,” Francesco Ricci Bitti said in Bangkok, where he was re-elected for a fourth term as president of the body.

“Normally in the past we had long negotiation but we found a solution. I believe we will find again another solution.”

World number four Andy Murray told the BBC in midweek that he had held several talks with other players at the US Open and they would discuss the matter further at the Shanghai Masters early next month.

Matters came to a head at the US Open where rain forced some players, such as Spanish star Rafael Nadal, to play matches on three successive days then have one day off and travel to Europe to play in the Davis Cup.

The players were also incensed by the announcement last year that the Paris Masters and the World Tour Finals would be played back-to-back, so two weeks have been saved in the 2012 ATP calendar.

Ricci Bitti said tournaments overseen by the ITF – the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup and the Olympics – took up only five per cent of the overall calendar.