Roddick Angry with ATP over Prize Money Dispute

[TheOneHander]

From Tennis.com


Andy Roddick is furious with ATP Tour officials after he and Mardy Fish were only given semifinalists' prize money after they pulled out of the Rome doubles final against fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey due to a shoulder injury to Roddick.

The Times of London reported that the ATP docked Roddick and Fish $31,400  after they pulled out of the final at 5 PM so could catch a flight to Dusseldorf for World Team Cup, where the organisers were allegedly threatening sanctions if they did not turn up in time to play.

"We’re going to have to beg for the money we’ve earned,” Roddick said. "Why should Mardy be punished when I can’t play? Mardy has played the [semifinal] match, he won the match, he earned the money, you can’t take away something he has already done. This is embarrassing for the Tour. The ATP people said they could not make a unilateral decision so I either take a chance with the appeal process or I played with a shoulder that didn’t give us much chance of winning and had a risk for the future. I would have had to play the full match. I asked if I played a point and then withdrew what would happen and they said the same thing, so it would have been an hour mockery as opposed to a five-minute mockery. The ATP stands for Association of Tennis Professionals; it should be the Association of Tie People."

The ATP put the rule in place to deter players from  abandoning doubles matches without good cause.

[ollinger]

The penalty was too lenient. This is show biz, Andy. Tournaments sell tickets to customers who expect to see a good product. If you enter a tournament, you, as a professional, are expected to act in good faith and complete your obligation to the tournament. They should be pleased they didn't receive a suspension (not likely of course, as the players run the sport).

[cknobman]

Screw you Andy.

Sorry to hear about Andy screwing you Mardy.

[glazkovss]

Since they won their match it is unfair to Rod/Fish to pay them as much as to losing semifinalsits. On the other hand it is unfair to Rome organizers and fans to w/o from the final and fly away to particapate in another tournament.

[TMF]

There's on old saying "you don't work you don't eat".

Roddick and Fish didn't complete all the matches, so no finalist prize for them. Tournament lost money too.

[Speranza]

Watson: Would somebody be so kind as to confirm or deny the following, just so that I can get this clear;

IF Roddick wasn't injured, and they would have played as expected, regardless of who went on to win... Would that have meant them arriving late in Dusseldorf?

[Sid_Vicious]

Roddick is right.

[TMF]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Roddick is right.

Why?

Without a final, the tournament got hit too, not to mention some angry fans. To be fair, dock Fish for half of the $31,400 b/c he chose to play. Roddick gets what he deserve b/c his injury is his problem, not the director's fault. It's not fair for one side takes all the losses.

[jdubbs]

The ATP needed to step in. If he was being threatened by the World Team Cup officials, he should have had someone from the ATP call them and tell them to mellow out.

This is office politics, and Andy needs to learn how to play them instead of unilaterally making a decision for everybody.

[sureshs]

Clearly the fault of the governing bodies to allow two tournaments to overlap at the same time.

[Moose Malloy]

deleted post

[migi]

more info

http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/201...oma-in-a-snit/

[jamesblakefan#1]

For Fish money may be a bigger deal, but for Roddick honestly it's hard to feel sympathy. I'm sure the guy makes millions from endorsements and such. It's hard to know who's right, but from reading the letter of the law it seems pretty clear that this is protocol if you pull out of the match w/ injury in this sort of circumstance.

But yeah, Roddick's turning into the grumpy old man of the ATP tour.

Originally Posted by TheOneHander

From Tennis.com


Andy Roddick is furious with ATP Tour officials after he and Mardy Fish were only given semifinalists' prize money after they pulled out of the Rome doubles final against fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey due to a shoulder injury to Roddick.

The Times of London reported that the ATP docked Roddick and Fish $31,400  after they pulled out of the final at 5 PM so could catch a flight to Dusseldorf for World Team Cup, where the organisers were allegedly threatening sanctions if they did not turn up in time to play.

"We’re going to have to beg for the money we’ve earned,” Roddick said. "Why should Mardy be punished when I can’t play? Mardy has played the [semifinal] match, he won the match, he earned the money, you can’t take away something he has already done. This is embarrassing for the Tour. The ATP people said they could not make a unilateral decision so I either take a chance with the appeal process or I played with a shoulder that didn’t give us much chance of winning and had a risk for the future. I would have had to play the full match. I asked if I played a point and then withdrew what would happen and they said the same thing, so it would have been an hour mockery as opposed to a five-minute mockery. The ATP stands for Association of Tennis Professionals; it should be the Association of Tie People."

The ATP put the rule in place to deter players from  abandoning doubles matches without good cause.

Since Roddick isn't making news with his tennis game he is making news by being a first class jerk.

[TMF]

If Roddick continue to be grumpy, his wife may not handle it anymore and could leave him.

It's in the rules. It was put in there about 6 years ago to prevent guys from pulling out of doubles early claiming injury to make sure that they make it to the next tournament in time. It was more intended for those that are playing qualifying of the next tournament, but in order to cut down on the gray area, they did it across the board. If you pull out prior to or during a doubles match, you get prize money for the previous round.

In 2004 (I think), I was chairing a doubles final in Champaign. Gimelstob wanted to retire in the second set with an injury. They were down a set and at least a break. He said he wanted to retire. The players had shaken hands. I called the supervisor to let him know of the retirement. He came to the court and told them of the rule. Gimelstob felt so badly for his partner because he just screwed him out of a decent amount of money. Gimelstob begged the supervisor to let them finish the match. I think it was only 2 games. The supervisor reluctantly said ok. Gimelstob and his partner went back on the court and tanked the next 2 games and the other team still won. Gimelstob was legitimately injured and had he known that rule, he would have continued without saying anything.

[HunterST]

Wait, did Roddick pull out because of an injury or because he wanted to catch a flight to another tournament?

If a player is legitimately injured, I don't think they should be docked their pay. If they just have something to do that they think is more important, they shouldn't get the money.

[TMF]

I bet Roddick will NEVER play this event again in the future.

I wonder if the WS got full paid for not showing up in the semifinal back in 2001 IW.

Originally Posted by TMF

I bet Roddick will NEVER play this event again in the future.

I wonder if the WS got full paid for not showing up in the semifinal back in 2001 IW.

wow that will be a HUGE loss for Italian tennis fans. A 30 year old American will not perform in front of them.

[azn_lefty_roddick_jr]

Originally Posted by TheOneHander

From Tennis.com


Andy Roddick is furious with ATP Tour officials after he and Mardy Fish were only given semifinalists' prize money after they pulled out of the Rome doubles final against fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey due to a shoulder injury to Roddick.

The Times of London reported that the ATP docked Roddick and Fish $31,400  after they pulled out of the final at 5 PM so could catch a flight to Dusseldorf for World Team Cup, where the organisers were allegedly threatening sanctions if they did not turn up in time to play.

"We’re going to have to beg for the money we’ve earned,” Roddick said. "Why should Mardy be punished when I can’t play? Mardy has played the [semifinal] match, he won the match, he earned the money, you can’t take away something he has already done. This is embarrassing for the Tour. The ATP people said they could not make a unilateral decision so I either take a chance with the appeal process or I played with a shoulder that didn’t give us much chance of winning and had a risk for the future. I would have had to play the full match. I asked if I played a point and then withdrew what would happen and they said the same thing, so it would have been an hour mockery as opposed to a five-minute mockery. The ATP stands for Association of Tennis Professionals; it should be the Association of Tie People."

The ATP put the rule in place to deter players from  abandoning doubles matches without good cause.

Looks like from the bolded parts, Roddick was sticking up for Mardy because of something that was unfair... Nowhere in this report does it say anything about Andy wanting prize money and points for himself; he doesn't even play doubles on a regular basis anyway. He is making a stand on a decision that was unfair to the players, out of principle, and I wouldn't consider that stupid or being grumpy.

People are quick to put the blame on Andy whenever a rant with his name shows up... Some simple reading would tell you that he is not even concerned about what happens to him, but is instead speaking out on something that is unfair to his teammate.