"It's the biggest joke I've ever seen in tennis," Roddick's strong words on billionaire Ackman's participation in the Newport tournament

Arthur Millot

le 11/07/2025 à 12h38

1 min to read

Jasika Sock Tomic

It was news that surprised everyone when the Newport 125 Challenger announced the doubles participation of billionaire Bill Ackman with former world No. 8, Jack Sock. A situation that caused a lack of understanding from a number of observers, including Andy Roddick, who did not hesitate to give his point of view during an episode of his podcast (Quick Served with Andy Roddick):

"The role of the Hall of Fame is to preserve and celebrate excellence in our sport. It's the biggest joke I've ever seen in professional tennis. Bill Ackman, who is a great tennis fan, who supports it, who finances the PTPA, who takes care of everything, wanted to participate in a professional tournament. There were clearly some agreements.

We don't give a wild card to someone who 50 players at my club could surpass. There was only one person on that court who was trying their best. If you want to argue with me, go watch that video again. And you can't tell me there was more than one person trying their best at every point. It was a disaster."

The partnership between the two men didn't last long as they were defeated in their first match against the pair Tomic-Jasika (6-1, 7-5). To recall, Ackman was known in the tennis world for making financial contributions to the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), of which Serbian Novak Djokovic is a co-owner.