Former Pro Andy Roddick Slams Billionaire’s Pro Tennis Debut As ‘The Biggest Joke’

NewsFormer Andy Roddick Slams Billionaire’s Tennis Debut As ‘The Biggest Joke’ByYezen Saadah, Contributor

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights

Yezen Saadah is a news intern at Forbes

More acknowledges applause of the crowd from the Royal Box on Centre Court on day six at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on Saturday

All rights reservedKey FactsRoddick, who was ranked the No. 1 tennis player in 2003, spoke Ackman’s debut on his podcast, “Served with Andy Roddick,” where he called the match “a total miss” and said it is “gonna be under review” because it appeared the winning full-time tour s were not giving the match their full effort. “It was a disaster,” Roddick said, of the match—Ackman and his partner Jack Sock lost6-1, 7-5 to Australians Omar Jasika and Bernard Tomic—saying Ackman appeared to be the only one giving it a full effort, saying one of the players was hitting soft, 50-mph serves, and adding, “This was beneath the Hall of Fame. ” Ackman, meanwhile, called the match a “humbling experience” on a Thursday X post, saying it gave him his “first real experience with stage fright” and that it gave him more respect for the fessional players who “play for a living in front of the cameras and the crowds. ” He announced his wildcard selection on X last Wednesday, writing that the retired former Grand Slam doubles winner Sock listed him as his doubles partner at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island—he also said he was “pretty sure” he would be “the oldest person in tennis history,” at 59 years old, to win Association of Tennis fessionals points

The Hall of Fame Open is a competitive ATP tournament Challenger series event held on grass courts, with participants selected based on ATP rankings, wildcards entries and qualifiers

Chief CriticSocial media users mocked Ackman after he and Sock lost, and an op-ed published in USA Today slammed Ackman’s entry as a “mockery of tennis,” blasting Sock for giving “no indication that he’s planning a comeback” and Ackman because “you can’t find results” on him “in any of the public tennis databases kept by the USTA. ” Randy Walker, the director for the Vero Beach Futures tennis tournament—an International Tennis Federation tournament—took to X after the match to post, “I just watched the absolute worst fessional tennis match I have ever seen. ” What Is A Wildcard In fessional Tennis

A wildcard is a special entry granted by tournament organizers that allows a player to enter the main draw or qualifying rounds without meeting the usual ranking or qualification criteria

They are typically given to former top players, mising young players, local players or players with motional value

Chief CriticWalker, who has served as the tournament director for Vero Beach Futures since 2017, said on X that he wanted to “vide some ary” and insights on the Newport match, but that he was “too sick to my stomach over it to do so right now. ” Earlier on Wednesday, Walker slammed Ackman for not “earning” his wildcard, referencing 53-year-old James Bragg, who was given a wildcard into the USTA Circuit tournament in Vero Beach after winning a doubles event in 2023

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