"I don’t want to hear about it": Andy Roddick calls out Carlos Alcaraz’ complaints over the schedule following off-season exhibitions

Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick weighed in on Carlos Alcaraz’s participation in exhibitions after an exhausting season. The American stated he has no issue with players using the off-season to compete in exhibition matches but insists they shouldn’t later complain about the Tour schedule.

Over the past two years, several players have criticised the demanding tournament schedule and the two-week Masters 1000 events. Stars like Iga Swiatek, Alexander Zverev, and Carlos Alcaraz have all voiced concerns about the heavy workload.

However, Roddick, among others, pointed out the apparent contradiction when players use their downtime to participate in exhibition matches. Alcaraz, for instance, played the Netflix Slam in March, the Laver Cup in September, the Six Kings Slam in October, and recently participated in two exhibition matches in the USA against Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, extending his playing time.

The 2003 US Open champion expressed his opinion on the matter during his podcast, “Served with Roddick”: “I get the criticism of ‘don’t complain [about the tennis schedule] and then go play exhibitions. I’m not going to tell you that’s wrong because I think it too. An example that pops into my mind—and I don’t want to fire strays at this guy because I love him.”

Roddick also recalled the exhibition series Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal played in late 2022 during a tour of South America and compared it to Alcaraz’s situation. “I think he’s phenomenal, I think he’s a responsible citizen, but like Casper went and did that week in South America with Rafa and got off to a slow start.”

“Carlos, let’s say it how it is. He finished [the season] on December 6. He had a vacation in the Caribbean with some buddies for a week before he played these exhibitions,” Roddick added. “He’d already done his relaxation, got in some reps, and obviously got paid a lot of money.”

“What other time would we tell somebody not to do their job for a massive paycheck? We’re adults; it’s a business. What I don’t accept is, ‘Hey, I didn’t have a long enough off-season.’ I don’t want to hear about it in Australia if he’s not feeling great. That’s it. I don’t want to hear about it,” the former world No. 1 concluded.