Andy Roddick slams WTA rule after Madison Keys' forced withdrawal from ATX Open
WTA
Andy Roddick has criticised WTA Tour rules after a peculiar regulation prevented Madison Keys from competing at the ATX Open Austin. The recent Australian Open champion had originally signed up for the WTA 250 event in Texas, but her new ranking position forced her out of the entry list.
The American had a remarkable start to the season, winning 12 consecutive matches and securing titles at the Adelaide International and the Australian Open. Keys defeated top players such as Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Aryna Sabalenka in the final to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.
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As a result, Keys jumped from world No. 20 at the beginning of the season to her current ranking of No. 7. The 30-year-old American was originally entered in the ATX Open, but a WTA rule states that only one top-10 player can compete in a WTA 250 event.
Since world No. 6 Jessica Pegula was already committed to the tournament, she secured the top-10 spot, meaning Keys' new ranking status made her ineligible to participate. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick did not hold back in his criticism of the rule.
"Until you make an independent deal with a tournament and then you fly under our rules," Roddick said on his podcast Served with Roddick. "It’s so two-handed, and I am sure there is a technical piece where they are going to be fine."
"How is anyone ever going to make a deal with a top-30 player again? Just to get screwed over if things change? You’re literally weakening an already tough business, making it worse, diluting it."
"How are we supposed to support smaller markets? The fact that we’re even having this conversation is idiotic. A tournament just four weeks away—now what do they do? Tennis is going to tennis. It’s so dumb and short-sighted. Always."
Keys had initially planned to play the Qatar Open next week but withdrew due to a hamstring injury. The American will now have to wait until the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, taking place from 17 to 23 February, for her return to competition, where the entire top-10 is expected to be in the draw.
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- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.
mandoist04-02-2025 - It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
- "Hopefully, the team around her will help... " Actually, the lack thereof seems to have been part of the problem(s). Another possibility is that, while dealing with legitimate surgeries, withdrawing, and otherwise passing on events, the competition has stepped-up in intensity while she was busy with traveling, photo shoots, and TV commercials.mandoist03-02-2025
- Ha-ha-ha... Translation: I'll help as long as I don't have to meet in person and endure the ongoing BS"mandoist03-02-2025
- Well said.mandoist03-02-2025
- So tennisuptodate doesn't even make this event a headline on this site? I had to find it hidden here. Not a word about Yastremska trying to ruin Alexandrova's celebration with her postgame actions?? According to WTA regulations, Yastremska has some punishment coming her way for walking-off court, blowing-off postgame rituals with the winner; including no photos, etc.mandoist03-02-2025
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- Typical narcissistic cynicism of Kyrgios! Very rarely has a decent word to say about anything. He's abusive, jeeringly loud and obnoxious. He needs to be officially called out by both the ATP and ITF for using foul language in public spaces such as social media. The guy's a vampiric hoon who sucks the lifeblood out of tennis by trying to bolster popularity of the good-for-nothing bad boy image. I once admired Kyrgios for his previous good-willed willingness to get honest help for his mental health issues but that all went down the drain once he figured he could reel money in through publicity stunts using the negativity of his problems in such a way as to declare them 'no longer problems' but something which he could become more entangled in just to boost an anti-hero image. Shame on him for turning his back on common human decency and good-willed fraternity. Instead he opts to make a 'hero' out of villany. I'm sorry Nick but u are only doing more harm to yourself in the long run by trying to serve up a bad name for the sport you claim to so proudly represent. Get real mate, tennis is not for hoons, neither is hoon-behaviour the hallmark of sporting integrity. It's an utter disgrace!Sueiyin02-02-2025
