Eric Butorac (left) and Jean Julien Royer celebrate winning the Malaysian Open men's doubles in 2011. -Filepic
KUALA LUMPUR: Succeeding Roger Federer as the president of the ATP Player Council is no mean feat but Eric Butorac feels that he is ready to fill the role.
The 33-year-old American, who is a doubles specialist, took over from the Swiss legend who has held the post for six years before the US Open last month.
The main role of the Council is to look after the players’ welfare and Butorac thinks he is the right man for the job.
“It’s definitely big shoes to fill as Roger is the greatest player in the history of our sport and probably one of the most respected sportsman in the world,” said Butorac.
“It was great having a guy like him who has so much passion and even this morning, I received an email from him saying he still wants to make an impact and that shows his class.
“As a group, we are motivated to put the best product on court, week in and out and it will be my responsibility to make sure the players have a good living by playing tennis.
“We are also looking to expand the number of players who make a living through tennis because the tour is great experience.
“Being not of the highest earner definitely makes a difference when the last president was Roger.”
Butorac has a career earnings of US$1.4mil (RM4.5mil) while Federer has amassed US$84.8mil (RM275mil).
“I think I’m very approachable and easy to talk to and players do not hesitate to come to me with their problems.
“Furthermore I also understand the concerns of the lower ranked singles and doubles players as well as the young upcoming ones,” added Butorac.
The lanky left-hander was unable to progress beyond the first round of the men’s doubles event yesterday.
Butorac, who is the defending champion with South African partner Raven Klaasen, lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-10 to the German-Austrian pairing of Andre Begemann-Julian Knowle.
“It’s very disappointing because things didn’t go our way and we had a very slow start. We made it more competitive but it was fine margins and bad luck in the tiebreak,” said Klaasen.
Begemann-Knowle will go on to meet Americans Scott Lipsky-Rajeev Ram in the quarter-finals.
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