Andy Roddick says he is ready to follow the pack when it comes to financial issues that have players pondering a boycott of next January’s Australian Open, but he isn’t betting on it actually happening.
The American 20th seed advanced to the second round of the US Open on Tuesday with a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over compatriot Rhyne Williams, then said he will back whatever the players council leadership decides.
Roddick has been quick to point out the discrepancies in payouts of 13 per cent of revenues from grand slam events compared to US team sports like the NBA, where players last year were forced to settle for a 50-50 revenue split.
“I’m on board with whatever the contemporaries come up with,” Roddick said.
“At this point it’s the same old song.”
“The ATP, the ITF (International Tennis Federation), powers that be, are betting against us being able to unify and they have been getting away with that gamble for 25 years and we haven’t proved them wrong yet.
“U2 doesn’t ask permission to go on tour. We ask permission do a lot of things.”
Players await a proposal from grand slam leaders but hope for more money to boost prize money for early losers, helping those struggling the most to pay travel and expenses.
One difficulty Roddick acknowledges in holding together a coalition is the game’s global nature.
“You’re dealing with a bunch of different languages, different agendas, guys who play singles, guys who play doubles, guys who play clay, guys who play hard,” Roddick said.
“I guess my view is more of a scope what’s best for the game, not exactly what’s the cut in Kitzbuhel and how do we fix that? You are dealing with a lot of different issues inside of it.”
Roddick also raised concerns about ATP events being shifted from the US to other nations, such as the San Jose event’s move to Rio de Janeiro after next year.
“You don’t like losing tournaments. I don’t like that trend that’s been being set of taking tournaments from here internationally,” he said.
“As with anything, a lot of times you will follow the story that leads to the money trail. It’s not any different for tournaments. Until we can step up in the marketplace, it’s free trade also.
“I’m more concerned with we need events like that for the generations coming up here.”