Friction has dogged the ATP Player Council, whose president is world number one Novak Djokovic, this year since ATP president Chris Kermode failed to gain support for another term.
The centre-back was at the Madrid Open earlier this week, reportedly to discuss a 16-team knockout tournament with ATP Tour chief Chris Kermode. It would potentially replace the former World Team Cup event on the ATP calendar that was played from 1975 to 2012 ahead of Roland Garros.
ATP chief hails Nadal's 'unprecedented' return to top
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
World number one Novak Djokovic on Wednesday dismissed any suggestion of friction with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal as tennis politics spilled over to the Miami Open.
World No.1 Serena Williams has refuted any hints of match-fixing in women's tennis. World tennis was rocked on Monday by allegations that 16 players who have been ranked in the top 50 had been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they had 'fixed matches' in the past decade. The media reports created a stir at the Australian Open, with players expressing surprise at the allegations. "When I'm playing, I can only answer for me, I play very hard, and every player I play seems to play hard," women's world number one Serena Williams told reporters.
A mouthwatering finale to the season ended before it even began on Sunday when Roger Federer was forced to pull out prior to the ATP World Tour Final showdown with Novak Djokovic.
'If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born.'
Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week's ATP Tour Finals in London due to injury, so Novak Djokovic will end the year as world number one having returned to the top of the rankings on Monday.
The 28-year-old Serb's initial slow accumulation of major silverware after his breakthrough at the 2008 Australian Open has accelerated to such an extent that talk of him surpassing the likes of Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal and even Roger Federer is no longer fanciful.
Rafael Nadal had just beaten rising Greek force Stefanos Tsitsipas in a classic scrap at the ATP Finals but had no idea whether it was good enough to keep him in the tournament.
Top men's doubles player Jamie Murray has called for an end to the ATP Tour's scoring system in the format and says there is widespread support for it to be changed.
Players will have an additional five seconds between points at next year's Australian Open but time-wasters will have nowhere to hide thanks to the introduction of shot-clocks.
Thursday's match was just Venus Williams's seventh of the year and first since January's Australian Open, where she fell to Simona Halep in the round of 32.
Widespread suspected match-fixing exists at the top level of world tennis, including at Wimbledon, according to secret files obtained by the BBC and online BuzzFeed News.
Tennis must avoid "internal battles" if its growth is to keep pace with other sports, Roger Federer said on Monday in response to news that the ATP was to launch a revamped World Team Cup.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
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