Tennis Community Reacts To News Of Brad Drewett’s Illness

Several players and officials in the tennis world come out in support of Brad Drewett after news broke yesterday that the ATP CEO will have to resign from the position after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

Here are some of the comments:

Rafael Nadal (facebook): “This morning I woke up with one of those news you’d never want to hear. Our friend Brad will leave the ATP to fight a terrible disease. He will always have us on his side with our support. Go Brad, be strong, we love you!”

Novak Djokovic (facebook): “I’ve been saddened by the horrible news of Brad Drewett’s health (the president of ATP). He is forced to fight a very tough disease and for that he has to leave the ATP office. I wish him all the best, and hope he can recover and win this battle. This should serve to all of us as a reminder of how important health is, since many of us take it for granted on good days. We only have one life and one body to care of, and we better do it right. You never know what tomorrow may bring and so we better live this life the best we can and be grateful for everything we have.”

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti: “Everyone in the ITF family is saddened to learn that Brad Drewett will step down from his position as ATP Chairman following his diagnosis with ALS. Some of us at the ITF have known Brad since he was a player; many others have known him in his various roles at the ATP and all of us like and respect him. We were very happy to support him when he worked through the ATP International Group and then the Tennis Masters Cup to help to open the great country of China to our sport which will always be noted as one of his outstanding achievements. For the ITF and for me personally, he is more than a colleague, he is a friend, and I want Brad to know we are available to do whatever is needed to help support him and his family. We send our thoughts and good wishes to Brad and his family and to everyone at the ATP during this difficult time.”

WTA CEO Stacy Allastar: “The thoughts and prayers of the WTA family are with Brad, his family and the entire ATP community at this very difficult time. We know he will fight this terrible disease every step of the way, and have our full support for whatever he needs.”

Andy Murray: ” Of all the people in his position, since I’ve been part of the ATP, I spent more time with him than I did with any of the other guys before him. We had, you know, numerous meetings with him, with the Grand Slams, you know, chatted to him a lot privately, as well. Yeah, it’s obviously very shocking news. Very sad. You know, he’s done a very good job for the tour. He’s done a good job of bringing the tournaments together and arranging, you know, the meetings we had with the slams. He’s definitely had an impact in the time he’s been working there. So, yeah, it’s a big shame to hear something like that happen. Hope he’s okay.”

Roger Federer: ” Well, obviously very sad, you know, situation for all of us. I saw him yesterday and he told me the news. Obviously very emotional, you know. I know Brad ever since I came on tour and I started to play a bit better, I guess, you know. Obviously it was very important to bring the Masters Cup to Shanghai, and he was the tournament director then over there and also London. So he was so influential; he was obviously a player. He goes so far back and has touched so many people, you know, throughout his career as a player and then also as an executive and then CEO. So it’s been very hard to see him not doing so well, so we wish him the best, of course. Can only thank him for everything he’s done already and more. I’m sure he’s going to stay on for a bit more and do more work, so we thank him for that. Obviously it’s tough. I worked with him very closely, especially the last few years now, and he deserved to be, you know, CEO and chairman. So it’s been difficult, you know. I knew him very well and I call him a friend. That’s not nice to see, but it’s unfortunate, you know.”

Sergiy Stakhovsky (twitter): “Terrible news come from @ATPWorldTour my prayers are with #Drewett for his recovery…”

Darren Cahill (twitter): “Shattered by the news concerning ATP CEO Brad Drewett today. Good friend and a better person. Love and strength to Brad, Jo and kids.”

Paul Annacone (twitter): “So sorry to hear about my friend Brad Drewett, ATP Chief. Thoughts and prayers to him and his family- #perspective”

Tennis Australia President Steve Healy and CEO Steve Wood: “Brad’s incredible contribution to the game in Australia and worldwide is obvious to all… For more than three decades he has been a much loved member of the Australian tennis family. All of our thoughts are very much with Brad and his family at this time.”

Tennis Channel Chairman and CEO Ken Solomon:”Tennis Channel stands with our tennis family in keeping Brad and his loved ones in our thoughts and prayers. He and the ATP have our full support during this challenging time.”